Art And Aesthics

1.  Video: Aesthetics: Philosophy of Art 

Before watching this video, I knew what aesthetics was and I could assume that it was extremely important in art but I never realized how it came about and how many artists and philosophers built onto this concept. I learned that not everyone can look at art the same way, many people can look at a painting or sculpture and realize that it art and that is looks nice but you need to be knowledgeable to understand why it looks nice and what the artist did to bring all the different aspects of art together to make a masterpiece.

   Video: Carta: Neurobiology Neurobiology and Art and Aesthetics

In this video I learned that the brain plays an extremely important role in the act of preserving art. The way your eye and brain work to make a connection and understand what you are looking it is incredible. Both speakers made good points on the subject of how the human brain effects aesthics. I learned about how strongly art can effect ones empathy and make it grow due to the fact that artists tend to become more aware of other people and themselves. I also learned how excited the human brain gets when it catches certain parts of art and realizes that there are hidden pieces within some art works.

   CNN Article: Art and Neuroscience

In this article, it just expanded on the idea that there is more to art than just a picture. It’s the science behind it and how our brains can able to perceive certain things. When the writer discusses the fact that you can look around the room you are sitting in and realize that there are no bold lines outlining all of the objects for you but if someone were to draw the room using lines, you’d be able to recognize it was interesting to me because it is not something a person thinks about. The writer also discusses the “peak-shift” idea that Ramachandron spoke about in his lecture which is a phenomenon that amazes me.

2. Many philosophers added a lot of great theories and facts to the understanding of aesthetics. Many of them built off of old ideas, making the old ideas more modern and understanding. I, personally, felt that Friedrich Von Schiner from the 18^th century was extremely important in aiding people to better understand art and aesthetics. He contributed to aesthetic education, saying that understanding aesthetics makes us more human.

3. I truly enjoyed watching and listening to Changuex and Ramachandron’s scientific views on art. I had never heard that point of view on art and it makes art more interesting for me. The most interesting fact I learned from Changuex’s lecture was when he spoke of consensus partum, discussing that art works together as many different things, creating harmony. And from Ramachandron’s lecture my favorite part was when he spoke about the three different horses drawn by a seven year old autistic child, Vincent Van Goh and a healthy eight old. He was making the point that the human brain can “isolate a single cue to optimally excite cortical visual areas” and the difference between the artist’s horses was based almost solely on how their brain chose to see the horse they were drawing and what their brain was able to focus on while drawing it.

4. The book’s discussion of aesthetics connected a lot to the videos and article. The book spoke about many of the same things such as the fact that many people see art and feel a level of comfort and happiness because what they are seeing and how their brain is reacting causes them a positive reaction. The book, articles and videos all showed examples of art that when you look at them at first, you may just see art but after a while your brain begins to make shape and sense out of the piece you are looking at, giving yourself a sense of accomplishment and understanding.

5. After watching the videos and reading the article I truly believe I know have a better understanding of the aesthetics in art. It’s a beautiful thing that almost all human brains pick up certain aspects the same way simply because that is how they are wired. There are many, many things in the aesthetics of art that I learned and never had thought about before. I hope to continue to learn new things like this so that I can better understand art and the history behind it.