Aesthetics, Philosophy, Neurology

1.
   Video 1 Aesthetics Philosophy of the Arts
      From the first video, I have learned that aesthetics is the philosophical study of beauty and art' the philosophical engagements with art that help us to understand art. One of the most important things that I have learned from this video is that there is no one way to create or interpret art and also no one theory or definition of art. In middle school and high school I would sometimes get confused in my art classes or English classes because when going over some material the teacher would say, "oh it means this..." but I would come to a different conclusion. Knowing that there isn't one correct answer makes it more versatile. I think that it is intriguing that there can be more than one conclusion on a work of art because it can touch more people which leads onto another key concept that I learned from this video, that appreciating art is by living with art, traveling to see art, sharing art, and buying art. Art has different connections with people and being able to share an experience like that with someone is quite special.
   Video 2 Neurobiology Neurology and Art and Aesthetics
      From this second video, I have learned that art is constantly evolving. I learned that it started about 2.5 million years ago with the creation of tools, then 1.5 million years ago symmetry was introduced, 300,000 years ago symbolism, and 100,000 years ago artistic composition made its way into our world. A key concept from this video was that art tries to make us aware. Art is a tool that helps us become aware of our surroundings and the world we live on. One of the last interesting concepts that I have learned from this video was that art works because there are so many areas of the brain that process an image and discuss it, and this interaction gets the brain going. This is interesting because I have looked at a piece of art before not realizing what it could mean or looking deeper into it, but the whole time my brain was working harder than I realized and creating something of it on its own. Its amazing that our brains can do so much more than what we expect.
    The Article What the brain draws from Art and Neuroscience
       From this article I learned that there is a reason for why art is the way it is. A key concept in this article was that our brains have a special attraction for faces and representations of them. Our brains are wired to spot faces and objects, even when its done just by a line drawing. It was intriguing when they made the connection to this with the "flight or fight" response. Our brain automatically can decide on its own whether its prey or predator. That's what evolution was all about. That's how our brains have formed over the years. Another key concept from this article was that artists will play with elements, like lights and shadows, to trick our brain into seeing a 3D image. It also went on to say how that the shadows might not be correct in size or darkness, but with its creation it can trick the brain into seeing the 2D image as a 3D work of art. The last concept that jumped out at me was the Peak Shift Principle, how animals are attracted to a particular shape but even more attracted to an exaggerated version of it. This connects to abstract art and why we find it so intriguing.
2.
   Plato (c. 428 BCE-c. 348 BCE)
     With the philosopher Plato, I liked how he described art as an act of treason, but yet beauty as the greatest good. His contribution was that art exposes every layer of the human world and natural world, that art is beauty that does the greatest good even if it goes against some parts in society. It kind of reminds me of the book, The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, and how he exposed the horrid truths about the meat industry to make change. Its the same kind of concept. his book was for the greatest good even if it was in a way a form of treason against the meat industry. That's the same kind of concept that Plato concluded from art. I liked how he also trusted poets the most because they let you form your own image in your mind instead of relying on the one that you see in front of you.
3.
  Changeux and Ramachandran scientific views of aesthetics and art are quite alluring. I found this video easier to engage in. One alluring aspect of it was when it also went to the Peak Shift Principle. I don't know why, but I'm curious about this principle. I found the study with the seagulls amazing especially when the baby bird went crazy over the yellow stick with the three red lines compared to the natural beak from its mother. That even though it wasn't actually a beak and couldn't do anything to help the baby get fed or grow, that the baby still wanted it the most. It's like going back to Darwin and the survival of the fittest. The more red the baby saw the more it wanted it because it seemed like the best option. This connects to abstract art and us. We as humans are attracted to abstract art because even though its distorted to the eye, the pleasing center in our brain has an emotional center to the brain. Ramachandran also connects this with the human silhouette. A women's curves an assets are exaggerated in art because that's what grabs the attention, our brains find it most pleasing even if it isn't realistic.
4.
  The videos and the article relate to the readings in the text because it expands and strengthens the text from the book. It helps incorporate a stronger understanding to why art is art and why there is not one solid answer to this question of art. They also give a different perspective than what the book could do. The book can't put in different moving object to give an example of art and why our brain is attracted to it.
5. 
  I liked the videos and the article because I'm not a fan of following along in a textbook and with the videos and articles, They helped give me a better understanding of what I had read earlier in the textbook. The only down fall about the videos was that with the second video, it was hard to follow along with Changeux because I couldn't understand what he was saying 100% of the time due to his accent. But I was still able to draw conclusions from what he was saying and explaining.