Bell - The Aesthetic Hypothesis
Not much has been written about aesthetics, and what has been written is mostly nonsense. Anyone who would evaluate art must possess two qualities: “Artistic sensibility” and “clear thinking.” Only those who have immersed themselves with the arts are able to theorize about art. However, proper theories can only be realized if one possesses the abilities to fully experience and intelligently speak to art.
Visual art evokes various emotions and responses. Art is generally described as objects that evoke emotions from personal experiences. People have their own opinions of art, but those opinions vary wildly. If we can derive and separate the universal characteristics of art from personal opinion, then we can distinguish and identify the traits that are art’s essential qualities. The difficulty lies with the individual interpretation of art. Some interpret art only from their emotions and experiences, and others intellectualize works without experiencing the aesthetic value. In either case, the derived feelings are not fully experienced, or they are experienced, but no further exploration of the feelings occurs.
Art is subjective and all interpretations are derived from personal taste. What we seek are the common attributes found in the great works of art. Though difficult to define, there is a universal emotion derived from art. It is called the aesthetic emotion and it is evoked through the universal attributes of composition, line, color and form. The universal attributes of composition, line, color and form will be referred to as “Significant form.”
Aesthetics only concerns itself with the immediate emotions derived from an object. Aesthetics is commonly confused by the cultural use of the word beauty, and through the inability to distinguish the conceptual from the emotional. There is a strong association with the term beauty and aesthetics. However, beauty is used to describe the natural world, which is not art, and it is used to describe things that are desirable to us. In both situations, the use of beauty is used to describe objects whereas aesthetics is focused on emotions. There are also many descriptive works that function to convey information or ideas. These are not aesthetic because they evoke emotions based on ideas, not from the forms of the image. As such, descriptive works are not works of art, as they do not evoke aesthetic emotion.
The “Primitive” form produces more consistent art than representative styles. Elements of primitive art are the lack of details, lack of technical craft and its ability to touch aesthetic emotion. Although representative or descriptive works can be considered art, it is never through their representations or their ideas. It is their forms that evoke aesthetic emotion. A sense of form, color and three-dimensional space are all that is needed to experience and identify fine art. One can identify good art by how they remember a piece. If they remember line, color and composition, then they were moved by significant form and experienced aesthetic emotion. If they remember ideas or information, then they were moved by what they brought to the image. It is sometimes easier to rationalize or intellectualize a piece of work rather than to acknowledge the true emotions one feels from experiencing significant form.
A good work of art has the same effect as experiencing music. Music is not interested in facts or reason. It envelops the audience and fills them with pure emotion that is derived from the music. The same experience occurs at the gallery, but it is rarely acknowledged. Impure aesthetics is where the individual brings their emotions to the piece. Pure aesthetics is when the emotions are derived from the piece itself. There is nothing wrong with people experiencing art through impure aesthetics. However, they are unable to fully realize and appreciate the profound interpretations associated with pure experiences.
It is aesthetic emotion, significant form and pure experiences that span the chasm of time. Ideas and concepts are important, but they only speak to the artist’s time and culture. The universal nature of significant form is the attribute that moved the ancients in the same manner they move modern society.
Works Cited
Bell, Clive. “The Aesthetic Hypothesis.” Art 623, Aesthetics. Tiffin University. N.d. Web. Oct 28, 2013.
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