High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 508: Chapter 177 Different Art_1

”Whether it’s magic, or music, or painting...no art form is ever static.”

”Take painting as an example...After an excessive development during the ’Vitalizing Art’ movement of the 20th century, modern painting has returned to the static style of long ago.”

”Consider the case with portraits.”

”Painters of the previous century enjoyed cutting out slices of life and sticking them onto canvas. For example, a dance sequence, a moment of labor, or even a laboratory experiment...The Visual Magic Techniques of that time had not yet evolved to what we have today, so this type of ’vitalized art,’ ’cut out’ from life, became the mainstream in painting.”

”But, as time went on, many grandmasters in the wizarding world gradually came to believe that most daily actions people take are ’unbeautiful.’ That’s an inevitable part of a sequence of moving images.They only have two choices: Either choose to tolerate these ’real flaws,’ or create a ’false beauty.”

”Yet, in art, false beauty has no life.”

”The grandmasters slowly came back to an old consensus. They believed only by excluding ’unbeautiful actions’ and by capturing that flash of ’beauty’ in life, can they create truly classic masterpieces that will be passed down through the ages.”

”The opinions of grandmasters always influence the aesthetic appreciation of most wizards to some degree.”

”The nobler the clan, the more distinguished the family, the more they care about such subtle changes. They always pursue the forefront of ’aesthetic,’ using it to distinguish themselves from wizards of lower lineage.”

”Hence, we can see that the images adored by the masses on newspapers and art publications are becoming more and more exquisite and delicate, almost indistinguishable from reality.”

”But at the art exhibitions, the works praised by the ’noble ones’ are often far from exquisite—most of the time, they give people a rough, chaotic feeling.”

Xiao Xiao, holding his notebook, babbles on and on about the history of modern painting art.

The young student takes it all in, rapidly losing interest, his mind begins to wander.

To put on this art exhibition, the student union put a lot of effort into the arrangement of the exhibition hall.

For instance, using huge curtains to cover the murals in the corridor to prevent those ’antiques’ from dominating the scene; every painting frame is covered with fireflies emitting a pale glow, their fluttering bellies add a touch of mystery to the paintings; the tremendous balls of lights hanging in the dome move slowly with the elegant chords, making people feel tranquil when they see them and refreshed when they hear them.

Besides the artworks, the most eye-catching elements in the exhibition hall are the ’visitors’—especially the witch ladies.”

As time moved on, more and more students who strolled in after dinner started crowding into the originally spacious hall. Under the pretext of appreciating art, they started hunting for their own ’prey’.”

Zheng Qing could clearly discern that the attention of many young wizards was not focused on the artworks hanging between the pillars of the four walls but on the slender-bodied witches around them.

”Have you been listening to anything I said?!” Xiao Xiao’s suppressed angry voice rang in Zheng Qing’s ears.

The young cost student hurriedly withdrew his wandering gaze and looked at his companion.

”Of course, of course!” he laughed, clapping Xin Fat Man on the shoulder, ”You really are worthy of the title Doctor, talking so eloquently...Absolutely brilliant!”

”If he’s brilliant, why are you hitting me!” Xin Fat Man was clearly not pleased.

”I see you’ve been holding onto this newspaper...Let me have a look.” Hearing Xin’s complaint, Zheng Qing immediately diverted the topic with a smile.

Xiao Xiao watched the two with an expressionless face, then abruptly closed his notebook with a snap.

Xin, abandoning his usual sleazy stinginess, readily stuffed the newspaper into Zheng Qing’s arms. At the same time, he passionately added, ”This paper’s a bit old...If you like it, I’ll get you a new one.”

Zheng Qing raised his eyebrows but didn’t utter a word. He decided to open the newspaper in his hand first.

It was a campus newspaper from the First College.

To be precise, it’s an ’extra edition’.”

Normally, the campus newspaper would be printed on Sunday night or Monday morning, and then distributed to students via class monitors arranged by the student union.

But occasionally there are special circumstances. For example, a respected old professor unfortunately passed away, or a researcher achieved something more eye-catching than a lab explosion, or the school had sudden events that need to be announced to all members, just like the recent Sand Hour incident.

At these times, the campus newspaper will publish an ’extra edition’, meaning it’s a newspaper outside of regular issues.

The content of the extra edition in Xin’s hand was very clear—the brief meeting between Su Shijun and the young wizards of Astronomy Class 08-1 after the morning spell class.

As the most popular beauty in the wizarding world, any public appearance of Su Shijun would cause a frenzy in the media, and the campus newspaper was no exception.

Normally, the editors of the campus newspaper would have to glean any dribs and drabs about this VIP from famous publications like ”Beta Town Post,” ”Sam Daily,” and ”Ladies in Flowers.” After slightly altering the gathered information, they would use it to fill their own pages. They always had to add at the beginning or end of their articles the remark ’Reposted from somewhere.’

But today, Su Shijun, Su Daxu held her meet-and-greet at the First College and even answered some personal questions—although the meeting was small and short, who cares?

This was the First College. This was her home field, and they had their very own ’reporter’ present—even if it was just an intern, but it was enough for the chief editor of the campus newspaper to approve the publishing of the extra edition.

”Wow! So it turns out that Xin, our great journalist, is the main writer.” The young cost student, realizing the name at the end of the article, then freely gave his commendation, ”You’ve just entered the campus newspaper for a few days, and yet you’ve already put out an extra edition! It looks like you’ve secured a position in the school newspaper...”

”It’s uncertain, it’s uncertain,” Xin waved his hands, acting modestly, but the grin on his chubby face couldn’t be concealed, ”Sister Linda said that while I managed to get a signed article in the extra edition this time, much of this achievement is due to luck...”

”But luck is also part of one’s strength.” Zheng Qing unconsciously muttered this oft-repeated phrase.

”Thanks for the compliment,” Xin, being unable to keep up the pretense, burst into a radiant smile and said, ”Sister Linda also said this was a great opportunity... We don’t always get to write ’a live report by the journalist’ after Su Shijun’s meet-and-greets, nor do we always get two opportunities to ask questions at every gathering...”

Listening to Xin boasting unabashedly about himself, the cost student, who was originally a bit admiring, immediately rolled his eyes.

”Two opportunities to ask questions?” Zheng Qing snorted, ”If you dare to write clearly in the article the questions you asked, I think without your Sister Linda hitting your head with her high heels... over half of the wizards in this school will rush to spit in your face!”

”That’s why it tests writing skills!” Xin appeared increasingly smug, ”Honestly, not all beginners have my ChunQiu style of writing...This is true art.”