What are you seeking in having a cup of milk tea? are you following the trend blindly or responding to the yearning of your hearts?
I assume that for most of us,purchase a cup of milk tea on that specific day makes no difference from the drinks we had on other days. But why that day and why that one? This question sounds familiar when we face a situation of making choices. Why that one in particular? It's like we choose Coco milk tea over others. Are we merely following the trend?
No, we are not, even if we are following the trend, we have our own reasons to be the followers. Believe it or not, those reasons are no less personal and connect only to the very center of our hearts.
In the center of hearts lies a belief that sustains our lives.
However, we usually fail to sense this belief unless we encounter situations that entail patience and perseverance. Scenarios like "waiting for the first milk tea at the beginning of autumn" oblige us to compromise our daily busy life and give way to the long waiting queues, just for getting a cup of milk tea.
Fortunately, such compromise only happens occasionally. Nonetheless, we might not often have to be in the queue, the determination of getting what we want and believing we will get it eventually seems no stranger to our lives.
This is Man Ray intends to edify us with his theatrical piece of work"Indestructible object".
The work"Indestructible object"is one of the most celebrated artworks he has ever done in his career. Such compliment is not given, however, without reason.This ordinary piece is a disguise of the value of his life appreciated by the artist himself.
Probably you begin to feel puzzled by what I am saying. After all, this work seems to be merely a simple combination of a metronome, with a photograph of an eye affixed with a paperclip to the swinging arm. It looks, indeed, a piece replicable by anyone. I could do it, I guess you would probably say. However, just because you could duplicate an art piece,does not mean you can be an artist. What then makes a piece of art great?
On this note, I would like you to think about the milk tea you are having. It is the same with having a cup of milk tea on that particular day. Looking down on the cup you have and give it a sip, does it taste any different from the one you used to have? Is it different from the cups in others' hands? What you have in your hand is no less than one of the thousands of copies. But you do take it personally, don’t you?----it is your cup of tea, not others. This brings us insight into how we value a good piece of art.
A good piece of art is a cup of condensed milk tea of your life that you can suck and never feel satiated.
What we are doing reflects who we are. Buying a cup of milk tea at the beginning of autumn is our persistent belief in good things in life. And good things never fail us, like good pieces of art always strengthen our faith, and evoke the self-awareness of who we are.
Not only does this work harbor compelling implicit meanings, but the way he created this work renders this piece of art witness of his life. To put it more precisely, this work and him have been tied together. It is a piece that bears the testimony of his beliefs in life.
As Man Ray explained: "I had a metronome in my place which I set going when I painted - like the pianist sets it going when he starts playing - its ticking noise regulated the frequency and number of my brushstrokes. The faster it went, the faster I painted; and if the metronome stopped then I knew I had painted too long, I was repeating myself,my painting was no good and I would destroy it. A painter needs an audience, so I also clipped a photo of an eye to the metronome's swinging arm to create the illusion of being watched as I painted."
He is no different from any one of us, ordinary as we are, we are longing for a company----an eye of appreciation,to value the real beauty within us. We share his belief that there is an eye set for each one of us. This eye is attached to the pendulum of a metronome that keeps track of his life, or precisely speaking,writing his life.The eye is not just for seeing his life, but for defining his life.Somehow, this eye takes hold of him. This belief, on the other hand, is claimed again, in 1933, when Man Ray received an exhibition request. Albeit this piece had been destroyed by himself previously. When this work was remade, it happened to have been three years since he broke up with the model and photographer Lee Miller, and it was her eye that appeared in this new version.
This is a cut from a photograph of one who has been loved but is seen no more. Attach the eye to the pendulum of a metronome and regulate the weight to suit the tempo desired. Keep doing to the limit of endurance.
The cut concealed his desire for love and care. The loss of his lover does not frustrate him from believing in love.
Though this work was destructed over and over again, his belief in life, like this work itself, is renewed day after day. The physical destruction would not stop him from reaching his spirit. In this sense, It is his spirit that has been kept intact under the repetitive physical destruction. This course of destroying, ironically, accounts for the treasure of his belief. He finds himself stronger and tougher facing the strikes of life. Because of which he grows to be stubborn, stubborn enough to urge him to remake this work.
This is why in 1958 Man Ray decided to display the object again. This time he gave it the title Indestructible Object.
In the catalogue, Man Ray wrote:'Last Object or Object of destruction. It is still my earnest desire, some day while the eye is ticking away during a conversation, to lift my hammer and with one well-aimed blow completely demolish the metronome'
The spirit of making and remaking is attributed to his persistent and nearly stubborn belief in good things in life.Therefore, when we look at this piece of work, we do not see it as an object but an emblem of life. The ticking movement of this device mimics the life we have, sometimes slow, sometimes quick; sometimes the pace is comforting, while sometimes it drives us mad. We are not, nevertheless, daunted by variable situations. We have survived every variation. “life continues.” Like the old saying goes “we have to believe there is always something good to happen.”
Stubbornly, we must have an indestructible hope in life.
Reflecting on our own lives, are we not embracing this stubbornness as if it is the meaning of life?
Nevertheless, like so many dreams broken by wakening into reality, stubbornness brings us back to those delightful dreams over and over again. We never cease to imagine, to yearn for good things in life, never stop showing the persistence of having them.
Each one of us is having a metronomeon which an eye is attached. The devices are the same and destructible, yet what has been kept within them endures forever.
Just like the one who drinks the milk tea, milk teas are made thousands, while the tastes are not always the same.The perseverance held so firmly within us accounts for the
Indestructible object that cannot be seen by others. What does your milk tea taste like? A pat on your back since you are not frustrated by the drama of life. And it renders bitterness sweet. But in a way that comes to be too personal to be noticed by others.