I went to look at contemporary art in a gallery recently. It wasn’t what I’d planned. I was heading to look at a collection from the nineteenth century but at the last minute found myself outside a modern art gallery and so, on a whim, I changed my plan and headed in despite a niggling feeling.
Why the reluctance?
I have an idea I just don’t ‘get’ modern art. Rather than come right out and admit that, in the past, I would have said it is pretentious, pointless or some other sweeping generalisation. But I thought I would give it a go.
Once in front of a multi-media exhibition I found myself examining the labels on each piece. Words. I like words. I was looking for a way in, to understand the point of the piece.
To my surprise I found myself amused and drawn by several pieces
Next up, a photographer’s work. Framed black and white print after framed black and white print with no captions. What! No descriptions. I read the bio of the artist and once I realised there were no captions, I relaxed and started to gaze at the prints. They were arresting and showed a variety of subjects. Instead of trying to work out where they were I found myself just enjoying the atmosphere and the feeling I got from the prints. I was captivated.
It strikes me it’s very easy to get all opinionated about life as it comes through us
To have all kinds of rules and stories about how things should be, in our heads and in our lives. This tends to leave us with a precarious relationship to what ‘is’ because most of what shows up falls into the ‘not okay’ category. And what I realised from my foray into contemporary art is you miss so much when you stick to randomly created ideas (calcified into beliefs) about what things are or are not, should or should not be.
‘Like’ or ‘dislike’ are totally arbitrary and subject to change
And more often than not our opinions and beliefs come from thoughts about the past rather than what is in front of us.
We may like the smell of coffee because we associate it with all sorts of ‘nice’ things. We may dislike wet weather because in the past we have felt down on a grey day. The sentiment is not really about the coffee or the rain it’s about what stories we hold about them.
And those can change at any time….. Who knows what you currently dislike or think is impossible that you could see differently, at any moment?
I’d love to hear what comes up for you on reading this article. Please add any comments, questions, reflections or insights below.
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Interesting piece Juliette. I’ve fallen into this trap many times in the past; I’ve found that getting old (er) brings more tolerance and expands the mind. I used to be pretty rigid in my ‘beliefs’.
Thank you for the comment. I wonder how much age comes into this. I know older people who have become more rigid in their thinking and older people who have grown more mellow. Everywhere we look we can find ways in which we ‘make up’ stories or beliefs but the opposite also holds. Truth is everywhere ~ out of the mouths of babes and old souls.
Love the article Juliet! I can relate on all levels! It used to bother me that I had to read what the artist’s point was. Now I see some of the writing as just another aspect of the art. Preferences for this or that type of art still show up. Viewing/experiencing art/life, with all its thinking-feeling resonses is an interesting dance. Thanks for sharing your point of view! 💛
Lovely to hear you Terry. I like the idea of the writing being just another aspect of the art, I hadn’t thought of that. Nowadays the whole field of analysis/criticism I was taught (in my case) of literature looks simply like one way to approach creative works. Not that it is good or bad but just there is a whole other ‘place’ to ‘hear’ and appreciate from where we become co-creators. And yes to the dance. Why walk when we can dance? (: