Aesthetics
Ms. Krall
Intro Activity
• What is Beauty?
• Can you draw Beauty?
• Can you describe something beautiful by
hearing it?
Intro Activity
• Look at the following
works of Art and note
the following…
•
•
•
•
Type of style
It’s use
It’s importance
Your interpretation
Emperor Augustus
Ceiling of Sistine Chapel
Tiffany Lamp
The Potato Eaters by Van Gogh
Water Lilly Pond by Monet
Don Quixote by Picasso
Eyes in Heat by Pollock
Campbell's Soup Can by Warhol
Questions…
• What is art? Are these pieces of Art?
• How do you determine what is good or bad
art? Any requirements?
Vocabulary Check
Intuition
1. The act or faculty of knowing or sensing without the use
of rational processes: immediate cognition. b. Knowledge
gained by the use of this faculty; a perceptive insight.
2. A sense of something not evident or deducible; an
impression.
Perception
The word, perception, comes from the Latin word:
Capere - to take Per (the prefix) - ‘completely’
1.The process, act, or faculty of perceiving: OBSERVATION
2.The effect or product of perceiving: CONCEPT
3. Psychol. a. Recognition and interpretation of sensory stimuli
based chiefly on memory.
In psychology and the cognitive sciences, perception is the
process of acquiring, interpreting, selecting, and organizing
sensory information.
3 Definitions for Aesthetics:
1. a particular taste for, or approach to, what is
pleasing to the senses--especially sight;
2. a branch of philosophy dealing with the
nature of art and beauty;
3. a particular theory or conception of beauty
or art.
Definition one: Aesthetics
Function: noun
1. a particular taste for or
approach to what is
pleasing to the senses-especially sight.
Aesthetics in this definition is something that appeals to the
senses. Someone’s aesthetic has to do with his or her
perceptual or artistic judgment.
It comes from the root word:
Aesthesia: the ability to feel or
perceive; being awake and
able to feel senses.
The opposite is:
Anesthesia: the inability to feel
or perceive; to be asleep or
non-feeling.
We make informal
aesthetic choices every
day.
From what we wear . . .
to the things we
buy: books,
music, and
objects for our
homes.
Public figures make aesthetic
choices to convey something
about who they are.
Andy Warhol wore various
silver wigs throughout the
’60s, ’70s, and ’80s to change
his personal appearance--to
create a signature look.
Who does this in today’s
popular culture?
Andy Warhol, Self-Portrait (Fright Wig), 1986,
Polaroid™ Polacolor ER, 4 1/4 x 3 3/8 in. (10.8 x 8.6
cm.). ©AWF
The aesthetic choices we make influence many
parts of our lives.
We all have a personal aesthetic
(preferences and tastes based on what we see).
How would you
describe the aesthetic
quality of your
classroom at school?
How would you
describe the aesthetic
quality of your
bedroom?
Review
• how do people make
aesthetic choices
everyday based upon
personal preferences
and ideas about
goodness, harmony
and beauty?
The Andy Warhol Museum Self-Portrait Gallery,
photo by Paul Rocheleau - All Art ©AWF
Andy Warhol, Brillo Box Dress and Fragile dress, 1964 ©AWF.
Review!
• What is the first
definition of aesthetics
that we learned in
class?
• “a particular taste for
or approach to what is
pleasing to the senses-especially sight”
“Things that are not art”
• Think of something
that is not art.
• list 4-6 reasons why
the object is not a
work of art
Definition Two: Aesthetics
Function: noun
2. A branch of philosophy dealing with the
nature of art and beauty.
The philosophy of aesthetics
asks and tries to answer the
“Big” Questions:
• What is art?
• What makes a piece of art beautiful?
• How important are personal tastes when judging
the quality of art?
• What are the standards for judging art?
• Why is originality so important in art? How do we
define what is original or what is creative?
What makes a work of art original or
creative?
Andy Warhol, Flowers, 1970, Published Edition, screen print on paper, 36 x
36 in. ©AWF
Original source material, Flowers series by Andy
Warhol, 1964, Two-sided collage; adapted from Modern
Photography magazine, June 1964, photographic spread
of color transparencies by Patricia Caulfield. ©AWF
If Warhol worked from other people’s photographs,
is his work really original? … Why does he get to copy, but I can’t?
Who decides what is art?
Who decides what makes an
artwork special, valuable, or
good?
Andy Warhol, Brillo Soap Pads Box, 1964,
silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood,
17 x 17 x 14 in. ©AWF
Review!
• Turn to your neighbor and give the two
definitions of aesthetics we learned so far.
The Nature of Beauty
Andy Warhol, Electric Chair, 1971, Published Edition, 137/250 screen print on paper, 35 1/2 x 48 in. ©AWF
Do artworks have to be beautiful or pretty?
Questions to determine what we can
know as truth (Epistemology):
• What do we learn about capital punishment
in this piece?
• What do we learn about Warhol?
• What would it mean if the original
photograph for this painting was staged by
Warhol instead of a documentary photo?
Questions to determine what is real and what exists
(Metaphysics):
• If this were a billboard instead of a work
hung in a gallery would it be art?
• Does Warhol’s use of photographic
silkscreen make this work more realistic?
• Is this painting objective or subjective in
relation to its subject, an electric chair?
Questions to determine what we think is good in
ethics and in art (Values/Ethics)
• What value does this artwork have?
• Is this painting beautiful?
• What values would be reflected if this room
was part of your school?
• What would be the ethical implications if a
majority of Americans agreed to hang this
painting in their living rooms?
Bell Ringer Review!
• What three branches of Philosophy can be
used to identify art?
• Metaphysics
• Ethics
• Epistemology
Definition three
Aesthetics
Function: noun
3. A particular theory or conception of beauty
or art.
Beauty…
• “the qualities that give pleasure to the
senses.”
• “characteristic of a person, place, object or
idea that provides a perceptual experience
of pleasure, meaning or satisfaction.”
Art…
• “The product of creative human activity in
which materials are shaped or selected to
convey an idea, emotion, or visually
interesting form.”
Art and Beauty…
• Socrates and Plato- art
was an imitation of
nature/reality.
• Supported the Objective
Approach, that Beauty is a
matter of fact.
• Ex. If a statue is beautiful,
then someone who does
not like does not merely
have different taste, they
are actually wrong.
• Selectivity (important
event in artist’s life)
• Clarity (purpose, must be
intelligent and Clear)
• Integration (relationship to
the “degree” of beauty
present)
Subjective Approach
• Subjective art on the
other hand, is an
interpretation of the
artist, his mood, his
feeling, his dream, his
passion, his vision; it
is a state of his mind.
• Tends to identify the
beautiful with that
which pleases the
observer.
Subjectivism
• Supported by 18th
Century Philosopher
David Hume.
• We are not born with
knowledge, we learn
from experience.
• Therefore, by using
our senses we then
develop the notion of
what is beautiful.
• However our
judgments on beauty
are personal ones.
• Art is a “matter of
taste.”
Is there a purpose to Art?
• Nietzsche believed
that the purpose of art
was metaphysical.
• Focused on myths that
involved death and
destruction.
• Believed that
unhappiness is
actually good for
human beings.
• Focuses us to have
courage and strive
toward greater
accomplishments.
• It is better to be sad
and deep than to be
happy and superficial.
For example
Another approach is to say that
“art” is basically a
sociological category, that whatever
art schools and
museums and artists get away with
is considered art
Vinci
regardlessDaof
formal definitions.
Kandinsky
Eduardo Juantegui
Aesthetic theories provide
different answers to these
questions:
What makes something a work of art?
What do we learn from it?
What value does this work have?
Basic
Aesthetic
Theories:
1. Representation (imitation, realism,
mimesis)
2. Expressionism (emotionalism)
3. Formalism
4. Communication of moral and religious
ideas
5. Symbolic (non-verbal) communication
6. Instrumentalism
7. Institutionalism
Welcome Back!
• Bell Ringer..
• What are the three
theories aesthetic
theories that we
• Agenda and Objective:
discussed
yesterday?
Through
notes/discussion
students will
understand the three
definitions of
Aesthetics.
Representation
(imitation, realism,
mimesis):
The essence of art is to
picture or portray reality.
Good art mirrors the world,
imitating nature or some
ideal form.
Martin Johnson Heade,
Thunderstorm at the
Shore, c. 1870-1871, oil
on paper mounted on
canvas attached to panel
15 3/4 x 23 3/4 in.
Carnegie Museum of Art,
Howard N. Eavenson
Memorial Fund
Expressionism (emotionalism):
The essence of art is expression of
the inner emotions, feelings, moods,
and mental states of the artist. Good
art effectively and sincerely brings
these inner states to an external
objectification.
Willem de Kooning,
Woman VI, 1953
Oil on canvas
Both Aristotle and Nietzsche both
agreed that artists should be
concerned with how their works
will affect their audience.
Formalism:
The essence of art is “significant
form” - lines, shapes, colors, and
other formal properties of the
work; representation, expression,
and other subject matter are
irrelevant. Good art uses formal
elements to trigger an “aesthetic
emotion” in sensitive observers.
Donald Judd, Untitled, 1974,
Stainless steel and Plexiglas
8 x 194 1/2 x 14 in. Carnegie Museum of Art,
Purchase: gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Denby, by
exchange
Communication of moral and
religious ideas:
The essence of art is the
communication of
important moral and
religious values from the
artist to the observer.
Good art is a form of
sincere communication
by the artist that
“infects” the observers
with those important
moral ideas.
Simon Bening, St. Gertrude de Nivelles, from the Hours of
Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg (1490-1545), Archbishop
and Elector of Mainz c. 1522-1523, opaque water-based paint
mounted on board 7 x 5 in. Carnegie Museum of Art, Bequest
of Howard A. Noble
Symbolic (non-verbal)
communication: The essence of art is the
communication of
important ideas and other
knowledge through
symbolic (non-verbal)
languages. Good art
communicates its meaning
effectively through this
non-verbal language.
Jacob Ochtervelt, Lady with Servant and Dog, c. 1671-1673,
oil on canvas, 27 1/8 x 22 7/8 in. Carnegie Museum of Art,
Henry Lee Mason Memorial Fund
Instrumentalism:
The essence of art is
its usefulness in
helping us to
comprehend and
improve our overall
life experiences.
Good art is always a
means to some
important end.
Romare Bearden, Pittsburgh Memories, 1984, collage on
board, 28 5/8 x 23 1/2 in. Carnegie Museum of Art, Gift of
Mr. and Mrs. Ronald R. Davenport and Mr. and Mrs. Milton
A. Washington
Institutionalism:
Andy Warhol, Brillo
Soap Pads Box,
1964, silkscreen ink
and house paint on
plywood, 17 x 17 x
14 in. ©AWF
Art is determined by
status conferred upon it
by the institutions of the
art world not by an
observable property in
the artwork itself.
Barry Le Va, On Corner - On
Edge - On Center Shatter
(Within the Series of Layered
Pattern Acts), 1968-1971,
twenty sheets of glass 59 x 79
in. ( 91 x 150 x 201 cm)
Carnegie Mellon Art Gallery
Fund
Review
3 definitions for aesthetics:
1. a particular taste for, or approach to, what is pleasing
to the senses--especially sight;
2. a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of art
and beauty;
3. a particular theory or conception of beauty or art.
http://www.philosophersnet.com/
games/britney_spears.php