“What is this?” This is one of the first questions that comes to the mind of people who have seen an Abstract Artwork for the first time in their lives. You may also wonder what is abstract art.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
Abstract art is indeed abstract. Its relevance and significance can only be understood once you know the reason for its existence.
Just like most of the people who have this question, when I first saw an abstract artwork, I could not appreciate it. For me, some random lines and colours were spat on the canvas. It did not please my senses, let alone my understanding of its meaning or significance. I tried talking to those who admired abstract art. This discussion helped me understand the basic core of the art form.
Abstract art is not just some long, colourful strikes or vibrant geometrical shapes. Instead, it focuses on something more deep; it is an art form that explores and experiments with the concept of reality.
To one, what might appear as a bright golden spot might be the hair of Goddess Sif (wife of Thor) or millions of stars of the Milky Way to someone else.
Say the artist has painted a red triangle; what do you see?
Maybe it’s just a triangle to you, maybe it’s the hat of Santa Claus, or a slice of red velvet cake—the possibilities of assumptions are endless. It was quite a realisation.
I realised that the secret ingredient to appreciating an abstract artwork is staying away from the 2 W’s.
The first one is What?…
What is this? What does this mean?
And the second W is, Why?
Why did the artist create it? Why does it even matter?
If you abstain from these two W’s, you will soon start appreciating abstract art.
The only thing that matters is what one sees in that art. One doesn’t need to apply logic to appreciate beauty. It is what you see and how you perceive it. It can never be restricted to a limited and defined set of ideas.
It can be anything and everything.
