Module 2

1.) a.) Aesthetics: Philosophy of the Arts: - Key concepts: There are many different theories or views on aesthetics. Everyone may have different reasonings as to why people view art as beautiful and what excites our senses. Philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Addison, Hutchenson, and Kant all define aesthetics differently. Throughout the centuries their theories have affected the way the world looks at art. The two theories that stuck out to me the most are Plato and Kant. Plato recognized beauty in all things, not just physical and Kant believed it was through genius nature set rules to art.
b.) CNN Article: - Key concepts: Certain aspects of art have become universally appealing, such as symmetry. Artists have created ways to create elements and princibles like, depth and brightness, that create illusions that our brain is wired to make sense of. However, while art may be universally intrepreted, every individual has their own perceptions. Such perceptions can be influences through age, religoin, and culture.
c.) Carta: - Key Concepts: Symmetry, symbolism, and compostion. Art is a form of communication and is constantly changing to adjust to our conscious and unconscious needs. Changeux and Ramachandran, do a great job explaining the experiences that evolve from aesthetics. Ramachandran explains how works of art can make your brain work.
2.) I feel that Immanuel Kant’s theory on aesthetics is most important. Kant was from the 18th century during the enlightenment period. I feel that his theory was significant because it led to drastic changes of the views of aesthetics. Kant’s theory of genius, “through genius nature set rules to art,” describes how our judgment and moral reason is what allows us to experience beauty. Although I dislike his use of the word rules, I like to think of this as the structure that creates the commanalites amongst art. This theory is what led us to the period of romanticism.
3.) Ramachandran and Changeux's scientific view on art is very direct in terms of relating art to science and evolution. Although I think that science and evolution have a significant role in art, I do not feel that it is where art comes from entirely. Ramachandran admits to contradicting himself, but makes good points on how works of art can cause powerful reactions from the brain. I find this to be the most interesting point he makes as well as his display of "aesthetic jolt" where he uses images to demonstrate how the brain works to create form out of objects. (The smiley face out of a bunch of dots) From Changeux I found the most interesting point to be the difference of how the brain words consciously vs nonconsciously and how you pick up on different information while in different states of consciousness.
4.) The videos and articles related to the readings in the text by further explaining the concepts in the book, such as aesthetics and how the brain forms perceptions. Also, they explained why perceptions of art have changed over time through cultural differences, evolution, and indivualistic expression.
5.) In my opinion, the article added to my understanding of the topics in the text the most because it was easy to understand and explained how the brain recognized art not only through reasoning but through examples. The videos were tough to get through because they were long, and generally boring, however, I liked the aesthetics video because it helped me to come up with a good understanding of aesthetics thought the many different view points on the topic.