1. For each video and article list/discuss the key concepts you learned.
In the Aesthetics: Philosophy of the Arts video, the systematic study of Art originated in 5thcentury Athens and Greek philosophers then came along with their beliefs and ideas of “art”. I learned that beauty is important. Everything is beautiful, and the true beauty comes from the eye of the beholder. The chief forms of beauty are order of symmetry, and definiteness which the mathematical sciences demonstrate in a special degree. Art is said to be the expression of emotion. Aristotle a famous Greek philosopher was famous for his three concepts of tragedy, which is filled with emotions. This then creates a form of art. Like Plato said, poetry is art, also filled with emotion. The next video of the two speakers was very interesting. According to Changeux and Ramachandran, science is a form of art. We see it through history. We see it through skeletons, bones, tools, artifacts, wall drawings from hundreds of thousands of years ago. It also is demented, twisted, exaggerated and distorted through sculptures, pictures, paintings, etc. From the article the biggest concept I learned was how we recognize art and how the human brain reacts to it.
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 contribution to the aesthetic theory in your response.
I think Aristotle’s theory on aesthetics was the most important. I think he was very influential with his 3 unities; unity of action, time, and place. He is famous for his analysis of tragedy which is a specific art form. Aristotle’s work can be traced back to 4thcentury B.C. He is the philosopher who believed that beauty is symmetry.
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?
From Changeux’s lecture, I really liked how he compared us humans to art. He spoke about artifacts which is really cool, those are historical works of art. From old bones, to hieroglyphics and tools they used. You can see the symmetry in the skulls and bones of humans. You can also see symbolism in these skeletons. Artistic composition was found in wall drawings from hundreds of thousands of years ago. He believes works of art are artifacts and human productions. From Ramachandran’s lecture, my favorite part was when he explained the statue of the woman who symbolized femininity and sexuality saying that the point of art isn’t to create the realistic picture of the woman, but to exaggerate alter and distort the image in some way to create pleasing effects to the human brain. I like this because that is very true. Although beauty is symmetry and we think of that as beautiful, it is the crazy, wild, different stuff that sticks out to us and makes us look and enjoy it. I think both speakers had really good things to say that were very interesting. I really liked the first speaker, and I would have never really seen bones or skulls as art, but now I do. Very interesting speakers, great video!
4. How do the videos and article relate to the readings in the text?
They all relate in the way that it tells us where art came from, why it came about, why we like it, what do we see as beauty, what do we find as “art”? They show the cave drawings, and how humans could understand them and communicate. All three pieces talk about what aesthetics is and what it has to do with beauty and art. We notice that art is seen differently through everyone. Whether it is cave drawings, statues, architecture, science, etc. Art and beauty can be two different things, and this is determined in the eye of the beholder.
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?
I enjoyed the films. I think they added depth because they really dug deep into different forms of art and the meanings behind it and how it is seen and communicated to us human beings. The second video was better and had a lot more interesting topics I think the first was a little boring and harder to understand and the article was super cool learning about faces and lines, our brain, and how we recognize art. The article said, the human brain is wired in such a way, that we can make sense of lines, colors and patterns on a flat canvas. The brain responds especially strongly to certain artistic conventions that mimic what we see in nature.
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