Drawn to You

3. At Ueshima Coffee

They passed by the Archives but didn't meet Shi Qingxuan again, which was good: she was bound to say something weird if she saw them together, Hua Cheng was sure of that. They crossed the west gates and into the east gates, with TUA's iconic old brick buildings at the left, and walked all the way to the right, to Ueshima Coffee.

They entered that café's trendy building with its wide glass windows, and were met with an irresistible scent of sweet, sugary things, and freshly-roasted coffee.

"One of my students works here", Xie Lian told in in a conspiratory tone, "So I know the best times for fresh cake. And strawberry shortcake must be fresh, otherwise – ", he then made a face. Probably meaning the cake would be horrible, but his face was just cute, Hua Cheng thought.

It was his student behind the counter, because he smiled brightly, "Banyue! You're okay?"

Xie Lian ordered black coffee with his cake, and Hua Cheng ordered the same, then pushed Xie Lian's hand-holding-his-wallet gently, saying he was paying for it, he insisted, as Xie Lian was spending precious cake time on him. Xie Lian just smiled and nodded in thanks, then went to look for a seat by the window.

The girl at the counter brought their order, and as soon as he got his cake, Xie Lian gave it a big bite, chewing it slowly and deliberately, with his eyes semi-closed, obviously enjoying it no end. Hua Cheng kept looking at how Xie Lian's long lashes made shadows on his face, and felt guilty, as if he was there interrupting something.

After sipping on his coffee, Xie Lian said, "Art as self-expression, eh? Yes, these are crucial questions: what is art and why we make art. Artistic works have existed for almost as long and humankind, since pre-history, even though its motivations are still being discussed. Several philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Immanuel Kant have, over time, questioned the meaning of art".

He smiled, "I find it fascinating, that, for instance, Socrates said poetry was inspired by the muses, not something rational, even classifying as divine madness (drunkenness, eroticism and dreaming). In one of his works, Plato suggests that for the Ancient Greeks, Homer's Iliad was regarded as divinely inspired literary art, to provide moral guidance if only properly interpreted".

Hua Cheng listened unblinkingly, his face resting on his palm, sipping his coffee at times just to have something to do with his hands. And Xie Lian, he kept eating his cake with small bites, as if enjoying to talk about art so much he didn't want to stop.

"Philosopher and seminal thinker Martin Heidegger, on essays between 1935 and 1937, describes the essence of art in terms of the concepts of being and truth. He argues that art is not only a way of expressing the element of truth in a culture, but the means of creating it and providing a springboard from which that which is can be revealed. Works of art are not merely representations of the way things are, but actually produce a community's shared understanding".

Xie Lian paused, nodding lightly, seemingly pondering about what he just said – rather than having paused for Hua Cheng's sake.

"Art as self-expression may touch the question of the different functions art had throughout history, such as non-motivated and motivated. The first are integral to being human and transcend the individual, or don't fulfil a specific external purpose. In this sense, Art, as creativity, is something humans must do by their very nature".

He started to count on his fingers, ", Experience of the mysterious, Expression of the imagination, Ritualistic and symbolic functions – "

Hua Cheng suddenly straightened up and Xie Lian trailed off, blushing, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to drag you into a long, boring lecture – "