Week 2: Aesthetics!

1. For each video and article list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Aesthetics: Philosophy of the Arts - From this video I learned quite a few things, the most important concept being aesthetics. Before watching this video I can honestly say I had never heard of the term aesthetics before, and now learning what it means it gives me a better understanding on how to feel about art. As for something interesting I learned about Plato and Aristotle, I learned that Plato did not think of poetry as an art, while Aristotle argued his opinion and later proved that poetry is indeed an art. The key concept in this video was how art is perceived through time and creating what is know today as aesthetics.

CARTA: Neurobiology Neurology and Art Aesthetics - From this Video I leaned a very interesting concept about art and the mind. Changeux and Ramachandran were able to describes in their lectures how the mind thinks about and perceives art. I found it very intriguing that they tell us that our mind lets us appreciate art, and they are right when you think about it. Some people’s minds may be different from others, what one person may find to be gorgeous, another may not be so satisfied or even turned off as they imply in the lecture.

CNN Article - From the CNN Article the key concepts that I learned are how we can recognize art to be actual things. The article describes how art is able to trick the mind in terms of 2D images. I thought this article was very interesting and they do prove a good point, when you look at a painting it’s flat, but depicts something that in reality is 3D. The most important concept to realize in terms of making artwork look 3D is shadowing, dark lines and shading are able to give a piece of artwork the “real” effect. I thought this article was definitely something to learn from and is also something I have never thought of before.


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

The philosopher’s theory on aesthetics that I feel to be most important was Aristotle’s from the Philosophical era because he was able to prove Plato wrong by saying that poetry is an art which Plato had denied. His aesthetics on poetry being able to maintain an arousing strong emotions shows that while poetry is indeed an art, you can develop a feeling for what is written and learn while gaining knowledge from it.


3. What do you think about Changeux and Ramachandran scientific view of aesthetics and art? What was the most interesting fact you discovered from each speakers lecture?

I think Changeux and Ramachandran’s scientific view of the aesthetics and art are really interesting in a variety of reasons. One reason being, it really makes you think after watching these videos, after they describe how art is perceived and appreciated by the mind, it makes you realize that the art that pleases you is pleasing because it’s you in a way. From Changeux’s short lecture, the most interesting thing that I had learned was the fact that you have to visually analyze art for emotions and feelings to kick in. While Ramachandran’s lecture was much more interesting, what I learned from his was people have different reactions to art, some people find things attractive that others would not. His lecture described something that I never really thought deeply of and that was simply put, people have different taste. Both of these lectures where able to give me a lot more knowledge on just how we really do think of art.


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

When it comes to the videos and article relating to the readings in the text, I watched the videos and read the article well in advance to reading the chapters. I have to say, the videos and article really helped me have a better understanding of things when I went to read the chapters. I think having a visual and audible form from watching the videos had a great deal in helping me because I learn better by watching and listening due to the fact that reading is not my strong point. The videos and article were able to tell me how art was thought of, while the book was able to tell me about art itself, both together where able to give me a good understanding.


5. 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?

My opinion of the films and article are that it really gave me a better understanding of how we think about art. I definitely think differently now and learned a lot after watching the videos and reading the article, when it comes to the aesthetics and knowledge of art but also how we view art and appreciate it. The videos and article really do help add an in depth understanding of the topics in the text, because I did complete the video and articles in advance of reading the text and it did help me understand the text much better. When reading the text, chapter 3 for example, I could relate to the CNN article with the idea of themes talked about in chapter 3 when they talk about how your mind knows and can understand when it sees familiar aspects of life such as people and places. These two relate because a fantasy painting could be out of the ordinary but you are still able to depict objects that you know from the painting.