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• Develop and use a common language for aesthetics.
• Increase knowledge of aesthetics in meaning and in application.
• Analyze an artist’s motivation for making aesthetic choices.
• Improve listening and reasoning skills through group dialogue.
Vocabulary Check
Intuition
1.a. The act or faculty of knowing or sensing without the use of rational processes: immediate cognition. b. Knowledge gained by the use of this faculty; a perceptive insight.
2. A sense of something not evident or deducible; an impression.
Perception
The word, perception, comes from the Latin word:Capere - to take Per (the prefix) - ‘completely’
1.The process, act, or faculty of perceiving: OBSERVATION 2.The effect or product of perceiving: CONCEPT3. Psychol. a. Recognition and interpretation of sensory stimuli based chiefly on memory.
In psychology and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of acquiring, interpreting, selecting, and organizing sensory information.
3 Definitions for Aesthetics:
1. a particular taste for, or approach to, what is pleasing to the senses--especially sight;
2. a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of art and beauty;
3. a particular theory or conception of beauty or art.
Definition one: Aesthetics
Function: noun
1. a particular taste for or approach to what is pleasing to the senses--especially sight.
Aesthetics in this definition is something that appeals to the senses. Someone’s aesthetic has to do with his or her perceptual or artistic judgment.
It comes from the root word:Aesthesia: the ability to feel or
perceive; being awake and able to feel senses.
The opposite is:Anesthesia: the inability to feel
or perceive; to be asleep or non-feeling.
We make informal aesthetic choices every day.
From what we wear . . .
to the things we buy: books, music, and objects for our homes.
Public figures make aesthetic choices to convey something about who they are.
Andy Warhol wore various silver wigs throughout the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s to change his personal appearance--to create a signature look.
How does an artist’s choice of materials and techniques effect the aesthetic quality of an artwork?
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn Self-Portrait with Raised Sabre, 1634, etching with touches of burin, 4 7/8 x 4 1/16 in. (12 x 10 cm) Carnegie Museum of Art
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Definition threeAesthetics
Function: noun
3. A particular theory or conception of beauty or art.
Aesthetic theories provide different answers to these
questions:
What makes something a work of art?
What do we learn from it?
What value does this work have?
Aesthetic Theories:
1. Representation (imitation, realism, mimesis)
2. Expressionism (emotionalism)
3. Formalism
4. Communication of moral and religious ideas
5. Symbolic (non-verbal) communication
6. Instrumentalism
7. InstitutionalismMaterial adapted from Julie Van Camp, Professor of Philosophy, California State University, Long Beach, presentation Teaching Aesthetics. http://www.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/multi/index.html
This is a basic selection of theories. There are many more to research and explore.
The essence of art is to picture or portray reality. Good art mirrors the world, imitating nature or some ideal form.
Martin Johnson Heade, Thunderstorm at the Shore, c. 1870-1871, oil on paper mounted on canvas attached to panel 15 3/4 x 23 3/4 in. Carnegie Museum of Art, Howard N. Eavenson Memorial Fund
Expressionism (emotionalism):
The essence of art is expression of the inner emotions, feelings, moods, and mental states of the artist. Good art effectively and sincerely brings these inner states to an external objectification.
Willem de Kooning, Woman VI, 1953Oil on canvas
Formalism: The essence of art is “significant form” - lines, shapes, colors, and other formal properties of the work; representation, expression, and other subject matter are irrelevant. Good art uses formal elements to trigger an “aesthetic emotion” in sensitive observers.
Donald Judd, Untitled, 1974, Stainless steel and Plexiglas8 x 194 1/2 x 14 in. Carnegie Museum of Art, Purchase: gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Denby, by exchange
Communication of moral and religious ideas:
The essence of art is the communication of important moral and religious values from the artist to the observer. Good art is a form of sincere communication by the artist that “infects” the observers with those important moral ideas.
Simon Bening, St. Gertrude de Nivelles, from the Hours of Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg (1490-1545), Archbishop and Elector of Mainz c. 1522-1523, opaque water-based paint mounted on board 7 x 5 in. Carnegie Museum of Art, Bequest of Howard A. Noble
Symbolic (non-verbal) communication: The essence of art is the
communication of important ideas and other knowledge through symbolic (non-verbal) languages. Good art communicates its meaning effectively through this non-verbal language.
Jacob Ochtervelt, Lady with Servant and Dog, c. 1671-1673, oil on canvas, 27 1/8 x 22 7/8 in. Carnegie Museum of Art, Henry Lee Mason Memorial Fund
Instrumentalism: The essence of art is its usefulness in helping us to comprehend and improve our overall life experiences. Good art is always a means to some important end.
Romare Bearden, Pittsburgh Memories, 1984, collage on board, 28 5/8 x 23 1/2 in. Carnegie Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Ronald R. Davenport and Mr. and Mrs. Milton A. Washington
Art is determined by status conferred upon it by the institutions of the art world not by an observable property in the artwork itself.
Barry Le Va, On Corner - On Edge - On Center Shatter (Within the Series of Layered Pattern Acts), 1968-1971, twenty sheets of glass 59 x 79 in. ( 91 x 150 x 201 cm) Carnegie Mellon Art Gallery Fund
Review
3 definitions for aesthetics:
1. a particular taste for, or approach to, what is pleasing to the senses--especially sight;
2. a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of art and beauty;
3. a particular theory or conception of beauty or art.