Although each of these videos discussed the topics of what is are and aesthetics, they were very different. Aesthetics: Philosophy of the Arts talked much more about the history of art and the people who helped develop it along the way. CARTA: Neurobiology and Art and Aesthetics on the other hand talked a lot about where the art image is developed in the brain, and how the brain depicts the different aesthetic images.
Aesthetics: Philosophy of the Arts: Key Concepts
Ø Aesthetics can be defined as the philosophical study of beauty and art
Ø Ideas can only be grasped through reason, besides the idea of beauty
Ø Plato had low opinions of philosophers and stated that artists copy reality and their art work is just another copy of a different image
Ø Aristotle, Plato’s student, thought that Philosophers are the real ones who know how to tell the difference between real and illusion and developed the ideas of aesthetics
Ø “The chief forms of beauty are order and symmetry and definiteness, which the mathematical sciences demonstrate in a special degree” Aristotle
Ø The foundation for aesthetics was found in 18th century England
Ø Neoclassical aesthetics evolve in renaissance
Ø The ideas that beauty is good and can be made and determined differently by every individual
CARTA: Neurobiology and Art and Aesthetics: Key Concepts
Ø Works of art can be defined as artifacts and human productions specialized for inter subjective communication that uses symbolic forms
Ø Art is a nonverbal form of communication of emotional states, knowledge, and experience
Ø Art in constant revolution = art history
Ø Learned how the brain develops and where are thoughts and emotion develop
Ø Takes 15 years for the brain to fully develop
Ø Learned how the brain reacts to different images (EX. surprise/used to seeing something)
Ø Artists show conception of the world/make us aware
Ø Evolutionary origins of art and aesthetics:
Ø -sexual selection
Ø -group selection
Ø -inter subject communication and social bonding
Ø -by product of brain evolution
Ø The point of art is to deliberately ultra/distort image to produce pleasing effect on the brain(Picasso)
Ø AESTHETIC APPEAL
Ø - everyone is slightly different, males, birds, Indians, women and sees everything differently
Ø -a bird sees a different image than a man( man’s suit, camouflage)
Ø -brain puts everything together and forms correct image
2. Which philosopher's theroy on aesthetics do you feel is most important? Be sure to mention the philosphers name, era (time in history), and contribtion to the aesthetic theory in your response.- The philosopher I chose was Aristotle. Aristotle was a student of Plato’s and was an important philosopher from 384-322 BC. His contribution to the aesthetic theory was that he believed that everything that was created was imitated. Although he was not as persistent on this topic as Plato and he was much more flexible with ideas and accepted exceptions.
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 truly enjoyed listening to Changeux and Ramachandran’s scientific view. Although it was very hard to understand them both at times, they both explained very interesting facts. I felt as if Changeux explained the beginning steps of how an image is depicted by explaining how the brain develops, the pathways of the brain, and where different emotions are triggered, like the element of surprise and scared. Ramachandran’s view was more of how we depict the image we see and how we put the pieces together. He used a great example of how when a man gets dressed for work he can notice that since his shirt has blue buttons he must wear a blue tie/coat. He also discussed how every individual can create a picture of the same idea, but they will still be completely different. For example, a bird may create an image of the forest and highlight the flowers and little cherries, where as a female may create an image of the forest and highlight the sun and the trees.
4. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?
The videos and reading were similar in many ways. They both discuss how each piece of art is different from one another and can mean completely opposite things to two different people. The book uses the example of how a clay pot to our culture does not represent anything, but to the Japanese culture it would be the focus of intense appreciation. This is very similar as the Aesthetics: Philosophy of the Arts video because to Plato poems and philosophy meant nothing and were pointless, but to Aristotle they were a form of art. They also both give backgrounds as to where aesthetics came from, the meaning, and why it is important.
5. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the topics in your reading?
- I found the films to be very hard to understand and follow. The accents were very difficult to hear and I feel as if I would have enjoyed them much more if there were subtitles to follow. I felt as if they were both very interesting still and also added a lot of new information to my knowledge of aesthetics. I never knew how in-depth and involved the revolution of art and poetry were. They added a lot of depth to the topics in the reading by giving much more detail and background. The CARTA: Neurobiology and Art and Aesthetics video really took my understanding to the next level because it explained how the brain functions and each step that each image is sent through. Also, the Aesthetics: Philosophy of the Arts video went into much further detail with the story of Plato and Aristotle and when and where the beginnings of aesthetics started. The book gave a very general definition and explanation of aesthetics and the videos added much more detail.
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