Living with Art

The different facets of art and the way art can be interpreted by people is extremely interesting. The Aesthetics: Philosophy of the Arts video was compelling in the fact that all the philosophers mentioned (Plato, Hutcheson, Kant, Alberti, Stendhal, Tolstoy, Aristotle) all had their own takes on art and how they viewed it. Each philosopher had their different viewpoints and although I liked Pluto's the best, I found Aristotle's to be intriguing in regards to him talking about tragedy being shared in all art. The CARTA: Neurobiology Neurology and Art and Aesthetics video was also interesting, especially how the different speakers had made many different points. My favorite part of this video was when Ramachandran spoke about Picasso and how he purposely distorted noses and other body parts in his paintings and people found him to be genius for doing it regardless of how disfigured the person looked. This realization was comical to me. The CNN article that further explained what the brain draws from art was also a realization to me. The article talks about our minds immediately knowing if there is a clear representation of familiar aspects, like faces for example. I think this is so true and that it is the familiar aspects that allow us to connect to art as much as many of us do.


A theory that I found to be very important was Pluto's theory on aesthetics. Plato was around during the 4th Century B.C.  and taught that ideas are grasped by reason. He also stated that "there is a beauty by which all things are beautiful" which is something I found to be very interesting. He argued that the manifestation of something beautiful attracts the person who sees it. Plato did not write about the aesthetics of art, but rather wrote what he saw. I think this is important because everyone has their own different ideas of beauty, which means everyone can have their own opinions on what the aesthetics of art are.

The article and videos relate to Chapter 2 of the text because they all further explain the different views and meanings of aesthetics, while further explaining why people see and relate to different forms of art. Although the videos and article do not specifically go into detail of the themes that art has, like the here and now theme or sacred realm theme, they further help explain why we like art and why people can relate to art as well as they do. Changeux brought up that art is a distinctive form of non verbal communication, and I believe this form of communication to be beautiful since it allows both artists and viewers to use their own minds and creativity to interpret different works of art.

The scientific view that Changeux and Ramachandran have on aesthetics and art was very interesting to hear. Changeux discussed rules and constraints in regards to artistic creation, all based on a neurobiologist viewpoint. Changeux discussed art all the way back to the first tools created by homo erectus and how even those tools were shaped and created with symmetry, which in my opinion is a very interesting concept that I have never thought about. Changeux speaks about processing of retinal images through visual pathways, giving off different perceptions. Ramachandran discussed whether or not there is a science of art, which he further explained to be the neurological theory of artistic experience. Ramachandran brought up the noses that Picasso created and how grotesque they are, yet he was deemed a genius because he was deliberately distorting it. The images were nonrealistic, yet conveyed different moods. I thought this was very interesting to hear Ramachandran talk about and further explain.