So like...idk I'm not sure how to explain this.
I can enjoy art, and I can appreciate and respect art. But like...I don't know how to enjoy things "abstractly" per se?
What i mean is that I like reading and movies and paintings and such. But I can't enjoy "classics" per se. Nor can I enjoy Avant-garde art. But I can respect both. I want to enjoy both too. I've tried reading both Le Miserables and dream of the red chamber but both times ive put them down fairly quickly (although the dream of the red chamber book I was reading was a fairly old translation, so maybe that was it). Ive also tried reading some poems out of Vladimir Mayakovsky's "the backbone flute" but they havent ellicted and reaction from me. And I really, really respect avant-garde work. I would rather someone like Yoko Ono be successful over Blake Shelton, because Blake Shelton makes the most generic crap, while Yoko Ono actually tries to make things different and interesting.
But I kinda would rather listen to Blake Shelton (obviously if I have broader choice I'm picking someone like Woody Gunthrie or Phil Ochs, but if it was between Shelton and Ono, it'd be a tough choice).
So I guess my main question is how do people enjoy art in the "abstract" way (again, I know that's not a good term but idk what else to call it)? Because I see critics and such wax lyrically about this stuff and they seem to really enjoy it so I wanna enjoy art like that too, beyond "oh it's pretty" or "oh its fun."
Exposure is a big part of it. People like the music that is playing when they are having a good time. People like the paintings that they choose to hang in their house (not the other way around).
Read up on choice-induced preference change and Cognitive Dissonance. There have been multiple studies (starting with Brehm in the late 50s) that show that people will increase their preference for a thing after they choose it.
(This is why they make people vote. You can get most people to say that "all politicians are bad" but then they will defend the guy they voted for because they chose him.)
People's brains are wired to be happy most of the time (except if you have depression) so if we are constantly subjected to something we dislike slightly, over time it can become passable or even enjoyable. If you include other forms of enjoyment with the music or books you are trying to like it can help trick your brain into associating those types of art with pleasurable feelings by proxy.
So basically just keep listening to Yoko and reading books you don't like and try to do it when conditions are perfect for their enjoyment.