Once a calligraphy work is produced, its artistic value already exists objectively, and its artistic value depends entirely on the aesthetic level of the appreciator. The artistic value of the same work remains unchanged, but only changes because of the change of the appreciator. The appreciation of professional calligraphers is one level, and the appreciation of non-professional lovers is another. As the saying goes, different people have different opinions.
This shows that the degree of appreciation of beauty is different due to the influence of many factors such as different aesthetic knowledge and changes in the environment of the times. There are many reasons for this, so the author has been talking about some feelings about appreciation by studying books and classics for many years.
First, the art of calligraphy is different from natural science.
Calligraphy appreciation cannot be analyzed and proved by formulas or definitions like science. For example, there is only one answer to the question 1+ 1. No matter how many people count, the result is the same, but calligraphy is not. The same calligraphy work is appreciated by countless appreciators, but the artistic feeling obtained is countless aesthetic results, with uneven height.
Second, the aesthetic standards of the appreciators are different.
When enjoying every book at the book fair, I often hear such words: this one is not good, that one is ok; This one is good and that one is not. Just like eating fried stinky tofu in the night market, people who like to eat it feel fragrant, and people who don't like to eat it feel stinky and feel completely different. This is a typical aesthetic choice made by personal hobbies and interests.
Simply put, the appreciation of calligraphy art is nothing more than a question of good or bad, beauty and ugliness. If two people hold their own opinions and appreciate the same calligraphy work, they can even argue for three days and three nights because of their different hobbies. No one can convince anyone. The difference between hobbies and interests is directly related to knowledge, cultivation, temperament, environment, status and times.
Third, there are many places in the aesthetic field of calligraphy art that are difficult to distinguish.
In the process of appreciation, it is difficult to define aesthetic expression and its tendency. For example, bold and unconstrained, thick and clumsy, broad and generous, simple and plain, nervous and bold, smooth and smooth, and so on. These words all mean appreciation, which leads to the disparity between the advantages and disadvantages of appreciation, and it is difficult to have an accurate boundary between appreciation and reading.
Fourthly, because the appreciators have different understandings of calligraphy art, their appreciation depth is also different.
This is very important for the interactive communication of the audience. We often say, "experts watch the doorway, amateurs watch the excitement." Another example is watching a chess game. The audience may not understand the appearance of "wonderful". When the level is high, it will be amazing immediately. If the degree is slightly lower, you must think clearly before you can understand; And the poor, you have to look at a few steps to gradually understand; No matter how bad the audience is, I'm afraid I won't understand it in the end.
Another example: Su Dongpo once joked in the Song Dynasty: "Calligraphy in the Yellow Valley is like a dead snake hanging a winter tree"; The yellow valley is called Su Dongpo's word: "It's called stone breaking toad". The real meaning of the calligraphy drama between them is impossible for ordinary people to understand.
In addition, I recently went to an oil painting teacher's house. In the conversation about painting, my husband said something very intriguing: "I am almost seventy years old, and I still know how to use colors." This sentence also made me think for a while.
Imagine that from the day he began to learn oil painting, he was constantly exposed to color. Is it true that he can't use color until now? Therefore, the understanding of calligraphy art determines the aesthetic level of the appreciator.
From the above analysis, we can see that the appreciation of calligraphy art is absolutely different because of various factors. Apart from the above factors, is there a relative but not absolute unified appreciation standard and principle?
I think there is, just like the pendulum of a clock, there is a relatively stable space value between the maximum left and right swings, which is a relatively recognized standard. Wang Sengqian, a calligrapher in the Southern Qi Dynasty, once said: "The wonderful way of books is that the spirit is the first, and the form and quality are the second. Both of them can beat the ancients ..."
This passage actually reveals the dialectical relationship between form and spirit in calligraphy creation. Both form and quality are aesthetic activities on paper, which are material and superficial. It includes form, composition, structure, stippling, ink color, weight, urgency, signature and seal. Spirit is the author's expression of his temperament beauty through form and quality, which is spiritual and conscious. It includes the knowledge accomplishment, psychological emotion, aesthetic tendency and vivid charm that calligraphers pour into their creation.
Appreciating skills of artistic works:
In the process of art appreciation and criticism, we should first proceed from the characteristics of art itself and go deep into its essence. Then the most representative works are classified from the category and content. The process of appreciation is not rote memorization, but the process of people actively participating and expressing their opinions.
However, works of art are rarely visual 100% copies, which contain a lot of information such as cultural concepts, lifestyle, painting language and the author's personality expression.
This requires us to have knowledge literacy and visual interpretation methods in related fields, which is an interdisciplinary vision of humanistic knowledge, a visual judgment sensitivity formed after a large number of contacts with classic works, and a language description ability to express our feelings. That is to say, it needs the accumulation of knowledge and experience and the cultivation of humanistic quality.