Module 2: Video Review

1. In the video, Aesthetics: Philosophy of the Arts, I've learned that many of the artists or philosophers mentioned have different views on art, beauty and nature. The definition of aesthetics is the philosophical study of beauty and art, in which both are very different from each other. I also learned that different philosophers look at reality and illusion differently or knows the difference between the two. Every philosopher/artist have different arguments stating their view on art. For example, German thinker, Alexander Baumgarten, posited that "art and beauty belong to a middle ground between sensitivity and reason." Another artist, Immanuel Kant, stated that nature sets the rules to art. This video was to show the different aspects and understandings that artists have that different from other artists.

In the video, CARTA: Evolutionary Origins of Art and Aesthetics, I learned about:

•  discovery of symmetry, discovery of symbolism and the discovery of artistic composition. 
• art and aesthetics are:
• works of art = artefacts, human productions; specialized for intersubjective communication
• distinct from language
• esthetic efficacy
• art is in constant evolution
• the human brain and how differently everyone interprets art
• dynamic thought // social and cultural evolutions
• conscious reading vs. non conscious reading
• Eight Laws of Art

In the article, What the brain draws from: Art and Neuroscience, I learned:

• our human brain is wired in a way that we can make sense of lines, colors and patterns that help us recognize art
• lines and faces
• color vs. luminance
• "what" and "where" streams -- "what" allows us to see in color and recognize faces and objects while the "where" is a faster and less detail-oriented but helps us navigate our environment but is insensitive to color

2. I feel that Plato (4th Century B.C.) is the most important. He states, "What is beautiful in itself is not this object or that one, but that which conveys their own nature." Plato mistrusted many other artists because they spoke of things they couldn't really know about. Plato argued there is no art to writing poetry, and also believed that art was simply imitating appearances or copies of another work.


3. What I learned from the video is when Changeux studies art, he goes through explaining the processes of what the brain goes through to create a piece of work. Ramachandran studies visual aesthetics, explaining the Eight universal Laws of Aesthetics. He also included symbolic descriptions and transforms and explains that acts of perception involves judgement on what the eye actually sees. The most interesting fact is learning a whole new way of thinking and seeing the perspectives of someone else.

4. The videos and article relate to the readings in the text because our brains function differently allowing us to look at images differently. Without another view or someone else's perspective, I would not be able to look at something a different way or be able to relate to that person.

5. I enjoyed the films and having a new understanding of looking at art. I also enjoyed learning a little about the history of different artists/philosophers. They add depth because it includes more details and a better understanding of how art is created.