Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair:

The Shanghai Art Fair has again opened my eyes. Through this experience, not only did I understand viewing contemporary art, but also in viewing art in general. I can feel the different creative expressions from the artworks. The fact that many of the artworks are in forms other than paintings and statues give me the feeling that contemporary art has evolved and strayed away from what is regarded as conventional art. It also suggests to me that the rules for appreciating art have loosened a lot. An artist whom I talked to named many of his artworks as states of existence (such as “face of salvation”). It was only after I talked to him that I realized the expressions (which appeared very painful and frightening) in the paintings are a reflection of his state of mind when he painted them. There are, however, many artworks that I could not understand, nor can I appreciate. One of which was the quick short messages appearing on a large screen. The messages give me a strange vibe, but I just could not understand the artist’s intention. Out of all the artworks, I especially liked the skyscraper video slides which looked like paintings of shanghai skyscrapers but has the vibe of Chinese paintings of mountains, as well as the huge balloon sculpture.