Art Aesthetics

     For the first video, one of the major key concepts discussed was the beauty of art. They talked about what made art beautiful and the difference between what we consider to be art and everything else in the world. Also, they discussed how art and beauty are two separate things. For example, Picasso's Guerneca was definitely considered art; however, it was not thought about as beautiful. The judgement of beauty is based on a feeling, not a rule.
     Video number two talks about the evolution of art and human's depiction of art from the Homo habilis stage to present day. Also, it brought up points on how art and science interconnect with one another. The key was how does art interfere with the human brain and emotions? The article briefly illustrates all these concepts mentioned and summarizes how we react to art and why certain images give off certain emotions.
      I believe that Kant's theory is important because many people strongly believe that beauty is one certain concept and that everyone thinks the same way about beauty. His theory suggests that beauty is not a rule or concept, rather than a feeling toward a person, place, or object. For instance if I look at a picture of a snake, I would say it's beautiful because I like snakes and don't feel anything negative towards it. However, someone who is deathly afraid of snakes may look at the same picture and say it's grotesque or hideous.
      Ramachandran proposed that the brain reacts to certain forms of art, not in a realistic matter, but understanding that even though it isn't real it still gives off a certain reaction whether it's religious based or any other reason. Changeux, however, discussed about the evolutionary factors of art and how slowly we developed certain brain functions through art. For instance, through art we developed symmetry and depth perception. I feel it was interesting when Ramchandran described the eight laws of art and how art and science both follow certain formats. We use problem solving in both science and art, and through curiosity we begin this problem solving method.
      The videos and the article, I feel, give a little more detailed feed back on the aesthetics of art through real life experiences and ideas. Even though I was not entirely interested with Changeux's presentation, it definitely showed how art and science were both evolutionary and how changes in our environment interfere with our artistic and cognitive development.