Perception and Art

What always amazes me about the Art World is that art is not only ever-so-changing and fluid, but the angle in which you perceive the object can mean EVERYTHING to an art piece.

Still, what does this mean? Truly coming to understand this has always been my biggest puzzle, and I will be the first to admit that I've said this many times without giving its meaning a second thought. I don't know if this was because I have just come to accept this as an established fact, or if it was because I somehow believed that saying this will win me an automatic entrance in learning how to truly appreciate art beyond the mere surface aesthetics of the focus object.

There's actually a perfect Chinese phrase for this that I just learned. It's 不懂装懂 (Bu4dong3zhuang1dong3), meaning you pretend to understand something when you actually don't.

I got very excited at an art gallery in 798 Arts District in China this weekend because I found the very piece that can perfectly express this incredible importance of the angle in which you perceive an object.

I now invite you to take a peek at this wonder yourself.

A human figure

Same Piece, difference angle, Part I

Same Piece, difference angle, Part II

Same Piece, different angle, Part III

The astonishing discrepancy among the three figures rises of course from the fact that

all of these figures are made not out of clay, but pieces of thin, Chinese traditional paper.

If you take a closer look at the human figure close-up (Picture 1), you can see the fine lines of thin papers lined on top of another.

I always find it always so fulfilling to make a discovery that can quench the thirst I held for the longest time. In this case, an art gallery in 798 Arts District, Beijing worked the magic.