AESTHETICS

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AESTHETICS
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• Aesthetics examines what makes something
• beautiful
• sublime
• disgusting
• fun
• cute
• silly
• entertaining
• pretentious
• discordant
• harmonious
• tedious
• humourous
• tragic and lots more..

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AESTHETICS

• What is it?
• Do I like it?
• Why do I like it ?
• Can I justify my decision?

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ART? I DONT KNOW WHAT IT IS, BUT I LIKE IT.
Mother and Calf Damien Hirst
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Aesthetics, is the philosophical study of beauty
and taste in all branches of the arts. The arts
is a collective term for all the imaginative,
creative and non-scientific branches of
knowledge. Anything that can be said to be
beautiful, can be said to be aesthetically
pleasing.
Carl Andre, Equivalent VIII, Tate Gallery, 1972
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AESTHETIC JUDGEMENTS
How can you judge what it is beautiful or not?
You can explain what things you like but it is
harder to justify your views. It is not about
being right or wrong, but on what you base your
opinion. In this context, and according to one
school of aesthetic judgement, your personal
feelings and responses are perfectly valid.
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• Objective - Conceptual Understanding
• This approach assesses what is aesthetically
  pleasing by using a set of rules that justify how
  objects should be understood and evaluated.
• The rules say
• the admirer must have knowledge about its
  genre, who created it and its social, cultural
  and historical background
• the admirer must also apply a set of conceptual
  rules to study the object to decide whether or
  not it has aesthetic value.
• Conceptual rules include, for example, the rules
  that define a sonnet, a sonata, the
  characteristics of a particular artistic movement.

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Subjective - State of Mind An object can be
considered aesthetically pleasing if it pleases
the admirer and gives a feeling of satisfaction
beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It is
possible to enjoy a novel, a piece of music or a
painting because it reminds you of a place or
person but the art wont have the same effect on
someone else who doesnt share your
memories. Art may trigger emotional responses,
eg music that makes us feel happy or sad. But
the effect will not necessarily be the same for
everyone.
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It can be very difficult to explain why we like
something. We have to think about the emotions
it creates and the other senses it stimulates.
Grayson Perry 2003 Turner Prize
(left) Weve found the body of your child
Rodin - The Kiss 1886
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There are examples of art which have come to be
accepted as great because so many people enjoy
them and appreciate the creativity, skills,
inventiveness, originality and flair of the
artists/musicians/writers. We would probably
include people like James Joyce, Vincent Van
Gogh, Arnold Schonberg and Henry Moore among
these, as well as some contemporary artists like
Rachael Whiteread, Philip Glass and Toni
Morrison.
Rachel Whiteread -House 1993
Henry Moore - Nuclear Energy 1941
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We may not like all their work (or even any of
it) but there is a consensus among experts and
ordinary people alike that their work has value
and, in most cases, something to say about Life,
the Universe and Everything.
Fountain Marcel Duchamp, 1917
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Sarah Lucas The Old In Out 1998
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I hate that aesthetic game of the eye and mind,
played by these connoisseurs, these mandarins who
appreciate beauty. What is beauty, anyway?
There is no such thing. I never appreciate any
more than I like. I love or hate. Pablo
Picasso
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2nd November 2006 Jackson Pollocks work number
5 - the most expensive painting ever sold,
about 73m.
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AESTHETICS

• What is it?
• Do I like it?
• Why do I like it ?
• Can I justify my decision?

Netherlandish Proverbs Peieter Breughel, the
Elder, 1559