Week Two Blog Update

Prior to watching the videos and reading this chapter, I had no understanding of what aesthetics meant.

I really enjoyed the video Aesthetics: Philosphy of the Arts. I thought this video really enhanced the readings on aesthetics and gave an in-depth lesson of how aesthetics evolved. I learned there is no correct approach to analyzing aesthetics, however, everyone has his or her own understanding of what defines beauty. I enjoyed the neoclassical idea of Leon Battista Alberti. Alberti believed that beauty is harmony and perfection. His idea of formal order and symmetrics is important to me. In addition to Alberti’s work, I found it interesting that there was no understanding of aesthetics during the Middle Ages. Instead, the idea of beauty was found in God.

The video CARTA: Neurobiology Neurology and Art and Aesthetics gave me an understanding of how the brain functions when exposed to a work of art. After watching the video, I learned that there are eight laws of art. These eight laws are grouping or “binding”, peak shift principal, contrast, isolating as a single cue to optimally excite cortical visual areas, perception problem solving, symmetry, abhorrence of unique vantage points and suspicious conscious, and art as a metaphor. I thought when the second speaker spoke about isolation was interesting as he explains how a seven year old mentally challenged kid may have produced a better work of art than Leonardo Di Vinci in some peoples eyes.

These videos relate to the text because they give us a view of how we visualize a work of art. They also reinforce and give an in-depth analysis on aesthetics. Although I really enjoyed the first film on the philosophies of aesthetics, I thought the second video was difficult to follow. Perhaps captions would have helped.