Aesthetics
The philosophy or theory of taste, or of the perception of the beautiful in nature and in art
Kants Idea of pure beauty
- Freedom from concepts
- Objectivity
- Disinterest in the spectator
- Obligatoriness
Taste
The decisions we make about aesthetics
Aesthetic Experience
A particular attitude that we may choose to have when we want to appreciate aesthetic qualities
- While we are appreciating something in this way we become less aware of any ethical issues surrounding us
Sublime
- Pleasure at being scared
- We get this feeling when we perceive the immensity of nature and can’t comprehend it
Aesthetic distance
The emotional distance between you and a piece of art that can be caused by your culture or past experiences
Aesthetics and art
- We make meaning from art based on the culture that we are part of, a complete meaning is never available
- Meaning emerge as the culture changed or as the spectator becomes more aware of elements of his or her culture
David Hume
- “Beauty is no quality in things themselves”
Art is made real in two main ways
- In space (sculpture, painting)
- In time (performance)
Classical sensibility
- Admires the idealization of the familiar
- Starts from the familiar human world and it looks for an ideal form within that framework
Romantic sensibility
- Admires whatever is unfamiliar, mysterious, wonderous
- Supposes that beauty is in the ye of the beholder
Immanuel Kant
“Beauty is within the subject, not the object”
“Look closely, the beautiful may be small”
Aristotle
“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance”
