No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist,” once wrote Oscar Wilde.
People are so resistant to the unfamiliar and original that they often miss something valuable, only coming to see its worth once its too late.
Maybe that’s why writers like Edgar Allan Poe and painters like Vincent van Gogh remained largely unknown until after their death.
People are, after all, drawn to the familiar.
It has been proven that the human eye looks for patterns.
In a photo or painting we will first pick out text or words and shapes such as a stop sign or objects that resemble a human face will be first to catch our eye.
While we spend time and money trying new foods, expanding our musical repertoire and staring at abstract art on gallery walls, vanilla continues to be the most popular ice-cream flavour, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy always gets us humming along (even though the words in our head might be "drink milk love life") and realistic fruit-bowl paintings still adorn so many walls.
Fashion works the same way. We like what we are exposed to.
There’s a bigger reason than climate behind why people in different cities and regions dress in different ways.
Often a new trend in high-fashion magazines seems so outlandish that everyone claims they would never be caught dead wearing it.
But a few months later, after it’s seen on a popular celebrity and a few ‘high-fashion’ girls on the street, the trend is everywhere you look – even your own closet.
This is the same reason celebrities are used in advertising.
Their faces are familiar and thus appeal to us personally – we feel like we can trust them.
From the time when we’re babies, we need to recognize our mother’s face.
It’s this survival instinct, programmed into the human brain that makes us gravitate toward the familiar.
But maybe it’s time that we grow up and step out of our comfort zone.
Try watching TV shows other than Friends and The Young and the Restless, with their familiar characters and predictable humour, and take in something that may help expand your mind.
The human mind always wants to look for patterns and a connection.
It’s how we learn and also how art can be taught.
Thus, the more different art forms we expose ourselves to, the more our understanding and appreciation of art will grow.
Then maybe we won’t have to wait until the so-called ‘death-effect’ kicks in for the next great artist before we can see the beauty of their work.