Years ago I went to an arts exhibition featuring a few young local artists. The arts being showcased were contemporary arts and they were unconventional like what I usually saw in the exhibition hall.
I remember something I saw, an artist adopted "heart series" as his theme and produced a series of arts related to heart. What was more interesting was sugar was the main ingredient besides the colours used in the arts pieces. It was very interesting as the series included "sweet heart", "perfect heart", "dark heart", "broken heart", "bleeding heart" etc. I could really feel my emotion changed according to the painting I saw right in front of me. "Sweet heart" and "perfect heart" brought up the "feeling good" emotion in me while the others brought up the negative feeling from within.
As I proceeded to watch the exhibits on the second floor, slowly my heart became heavy and gloomy after I saw a few pieces of sculptures. I really disliked what I saw in front of me and strange enough I suddenly felt angry and suffocated. I could no longer stay there, my thought at that time was I wanted to get out from there immediately and I left.
Later I reflected on why I reacted in such a strange way as I have been to many arts exhibitions but I never felt that way before. I realized that I was being judgmental and my non-acceptance on something I did not approve. It was the condition that I had preset before I walked into the hall which meant my mind was pre-conditioned to what I thought what arts should be. When I looked back I could only laugh at my narrow-mindedness and my attachment to perfection.
Last year I went to an International Arts Expo, I told myself I was going to learn from the previous experience not be judgmental and be open minded to what I was about to see. I cleared my mind and I wanted to appreciate what I see. After all arts is an expression of life of its creator and it is being expressed out as a piece of arts.
I remember I enjoyed watching the art pieces presented in front of me and I could even imagine the story behind some of the paintings and sculptures I saw. When come to the painting or sculpture I disliked, I just acknowledge that I did not like the painting or the sculpture and I just walked away without bringing out the negative emotion anymore.
Everyone has the freedom and right to express oneself, I choose to respect his/her greater self regardless of the kind of arts he/she produces. Arts is a crystallization of his/her life experience and I am not in any position to judge.