If the creator intended a meaning for the piece, the creator.
If the creator made something just for the fun of it and came up with a meaning afterwards, still the creator.
The audience can’t change that but what they can do is to not give a fuck about what the creator thinks so they are free give whatever meaning they want. Specially when the authors are no longer around to complain or explain what were their intentions.
Among other things, when interpreting a work even what the author says their intention was isn’t particularly relevant because they could, among many other things, be lying.
If the creator intended a meaning for the piece, the creator.
If the creator made something just for the fun of it and came up with a meaning afterwards, still the creator.
The audience can’t change that but what they can do is to not give a fuck about what the creator thinks so they are free give whatever meaning they want. Specially when the authors are no longer around to complain or explain what were their intentions.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_the_Author
https://www.languagehumanities.org/what-is-an-intentional-fallacy.htm
Among other things, when interpreting a work even what the author says their intention was isn’t particularly relevant because they could, among many other things, be lying.