Beauty, Aesthetics, and the Three Stances

1. Beauty, Aesthetics, and the Three Stances

2. Beauty • What makes something beautiful? • Everyone’s outlook is different when it comes to beauty. • Beauty - the quality in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind.

3. Aesthetics • Aesthetics - the branch of philosophy dealing with such notions as the beautiful, the ugly, the sublime, the comic, etc. • In simple terms: The philosophy of what makes art or design beautiful. • Can be the way you experience art.

4. The Three Aesthetic Stances Expressionism Mimesis Formalism Left to right: First Communion, Old Guitarist, The Three Musicians. Pablo Picasso

5. Mimesis Mimesis – art as imitation, duplication, or representation of things that we see or observe. Plato argued that artists could never render true reality. Must art match what we see in order for it to be art? Vessels and Pomegranate by Willem Kalf

6. Expressionism Expressionism – Art that emphasizes feeling and emotion The assumption that for the artwork to be good, the viewer must receive the feeling of the artist. Sick Child by Edvard Munch

7. Formalism Formalism - Art that focuses on the elements and principles of design. Formalism does not rely on its relation to real life or subject matter Relies more on craftsmanship, artistic skill or technique. Broadway Boogie by Piet Mondrian

8. Key Words • Beauty – the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind. • Aesthetics – The philosophy of what makes art or design beautiful. • Mimesis – Art as imitation, duplication, or representation of things that we see or observe. • Expressionism – Art that emphasized feelings and emotions. • Formalism – Art that focuses on the elements and principles of art.

9. Do you decide what looks beautiful or does your society/culture decide for you? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zKfF40jeCA