Module 2

Video 1, Aesthetics: Philosophy of Art

• ·            Aristotle's 3 Unities (rules for a tragedy)
• Unity of time- a tragedy should take place completely within 24 hours
• Unity of action-a play should have one action that it follows, with no subplots.
• Unity of place- the setting of the play should be confined to one place, no set or scene changes

• ·      Aesthetics- the study of beauty and art
• ·      The middle ages had little to no aesthetics, but the 15th century Renaissance turned that around completely. The Italian architect Leon Battista Alberti was the first to come forward and insist that beauty is harmony and perfection. 
• ·      Neoclassical aesthetics- the aesthetics of proportion, symmetry, harmony and order
• ·      The foundation for Modern aesthetics were founded in 18^th century England which also saw the first modern system of art which said that the individual arts are united through imitation of nature.
• ·      Aesthetic disengagement - the idea that there is a special attitude of disengagement from the practical concerns that is essential to appreciating art.
• ·      During the enlightenment, Alexander Baumgarten theorized that art and beauty belong in a middle ground between sensitivity and reason
• ·      Philosopher Immanuel Kant says that the perception of beauty is based on feeling alone and there are no scientific rules in place set to create something beautiful
• ·      Kant also states that the artist is a genius, a sensitive and superior individual
• ·      At the end of the 18^th century, Freidrich von Schiller was the first to propose an “aesthetic education” or teaching student how to appreciate and understand the arts
• ·      The Kantian theory of Genius shaped romanticism by placing the most importance on the artist, and stating that there is no school to teach someone how to be an artist and how to make art. Through this theory, individual artists began to be recognized and worshiped
• ·      In the 19^th century, Georg Hegel said that through art, the individual expresses what she is and what she may become.
• ·      In the 20^th century Leo Tolstoy advocated for the expression theory of art. It states that art should be the expression of emotion
• ·      In the second half of the 20^th century saw a change towards art that was more unconventional, such as cubism, pop art or surrealism

Video 2, CARTA: Neurobiology Neurology and Art and Aesthetics

·      Changeux says that we have a genetic predisposition for art, based on how early people knew about symmetry, symbolism and even made cave paintings themselves.

·      Works of art- Artefacts, human productions, specialized for intersubjective communication, symbolic forms genetically & epigenetically encoded

·      Art is different than language because it uses nonverbal communication to express an emotional state

·      aesthetic efficacy- Staggering effects on emotion and reason mobilizing conscious and non-conscious processes

·      Art in constant evolution- Art history. Renewal without apparent progress

·      He then explained the process that it takes to fully appreciate art from a neurobiological aspect. He talked about how when you first see the painting it goes in through your eyes and retinas into your prefrontal cortex which then goes into processing emotion from the work of art.

·      Rules for creating art

o   Novelty- the constant search for the unanticipated, originality

o   Consensus partium- the universal search for harmony

·      Ramachandran says that that the goal of art is to deliberately distort or hyperbolize an image in order to create a please effect on a human brain, if art did not exaggerate than how would it be any different than photography?

·      Eight laws of aesthetics

o   Grouping or binding- the “jolt” you get when you finally see an image in an otherwise abstract work

o   Peak shift principal- exaggeration to make a point, a caricature

o   Contrast

o   Isolating a single cue to optimally excite cortical visual areas “attention”- isolation and the art of understatement, minimalism.

o   Perceptual ‘problem solving’- when the brain has to search for an image it is more please than if it was obvious

o   Symmetry

o   Abhorrence of unique vantage points and suspicious coincidences- the brain likes generic viewpoints instead of unique viewpoints

o   Art as a metaphor

Article,  What the brain draws from: Art and neuroscience by Elizabeth Landau, CNN

• The article goes into depth on how our brains are able to recognize line drawing or faces in art when they aren’t necessarily real. For example, our brains are able to recognize : ) as a smiley face even though it only has the bare minimum of what our real faces does, that is because our brains are able to identify it based on a clear representation of something familiar.
• There are three kinds of cones in the eye's retina, red, blue and green. The brain knows what color you're looking at because it compares the activities in two or three cones to determine the color
•  artists place shadows and lights that wouldn't be present in real life in their paintings in order to trick the eye into perceiving depth.
• That is why when your eyes move around the Mona Lisa's face, her expression appears to change. When you look directly at her mouth, she appears to smile less than when you look at her eyes. When you look away from the mouth, your peripheral visual system picks up shadows from her cheeks that appear to extend the smile
• The "peak shift principle" says that animals attracted to a particular shape will be even more attracted to an exaggerated version of that form. Similar to what Ramachandran says about caricatures and the baby bird experiment 

Which philosopher's theory on aesthetics do you feel is most important? Be sure to mention the philosopher’s name, era (time in history), and contribution to the aesthetic theory in your response.

The philosopher’s theory on aesthetics that I believe is the most important is Georg W.F. Hegel (19^th century, Victorian Era). I liked the way that he looked at art as a way to find one’s self. He believed that the spirit influenced art’s creation and through that creation, one’s spirit was set free and became visible to those who saw their art. I find this important because that means that all art, no matter what, is considered beautiful merely because it came from someone’s spirit. I also believe his theories are important because they place so much emphasis on creating art as a form of freedom, self-expression and understanding.

What do you think about Changeux and Ramachandran scientific view of aesthetics and art? What was the most interesting fact you discovered from each speaker’s lecture? 

            I thought that both lectures were very interesting.  In addition to being very interested in art, I am also a very science based person, and it was very cool to see how those two fields, who some people would say have nothing to do with each other, came together. The most interesting thing I learned from Changeux’s lecture was about how the brain processes visual images to create an emotion. He spoke about the eye’s retinas and the prefrontal part of the brain and went into depth on how, from a neuroscience standpoint, art affects our bodies and brains.  The most interesting thing I learned from Ramachandran’s lecture was the peak shift principle. It was interesting to learn scientifically why caricatures you can get at a carnival are so funny and pleasing to look at. I also liked how he spoke about the scientific experiment about the baby birds poking at the red spot on their mother’s beak, and how they continued to do so even after the beak was replaced with a red stick. The exaggeration of the beak still resonates with the bird as they ask to be fed. 

How do the videos and article relate to the readings in the text?

            The videos and articles tied into the reading by going into depth on the principles of aesthetics. The videos included famous theories of aesthetics that the chapters only touched upon. The videos and article also include rules or characteristics of art that tie together all the art pieces that the book talks about. It is interesting to go back and read the chapters of the book after watching the videos and reading the article because now I have a deeper understanding of what makes art “art” and can tie in my knew knowledge to the painting and themes of the book.

What is your opinion of the films and article? How do they add depth to understanding of the topics in your reading in the text?

            I thought that the videos and article were very helpful. In regards to the videos, it was nice to have concepts of art visually explained instead of just reading about them in the chapters of the book. I believe that concepts that the book touched on were really explored in depth in the videos and the article, especially the chapter on aesthetics. I also liked how the first video moved chronologically through time and touched on many different philosophers and their contributions. I also like how the video included quotes from each philosopher and interviews with university professors who gave their opinions and expanded on each philosopher’s theories. It was nice to learn about specific movements in art and how they came about, which added to my understanding of how to classify art, as explained in chapter 3.