Art and Aesthetics Video's

1.)  In the video, Aesthetics: Philosophy of the Arts, I learned the importance of aesthetics has on an artist, artwork, and the viewers.  Aesthetics was discussed and defined as being the philosophical study of art.  The video discussed several philosophies that have been determined in the based on philosophers, and how beauty shapes how people interpret art.
      In the video, CARTA: Neurobiology Neurology and Art and Aesthetics, the concepts that I learned came from two very intelligent men in the neurological field.  Changeux, discussed how there is a genetic origin of art, and from the start of the first human, there has been a constant evolution of art.  He brought up that there is a "Esthetic Efficacy" of art which means the emotions and reason that art brings out.  He also states that art is a human production of artifacts and it is a non verbal language for communication.  The second speaker, Ramachandran, discussed his "Eight Laws of Art/Aesthetics."  These laws are what make art universal.  He goes more in depth and speaks about how art is a visual aesthetic and that it creates visual process for audiences.  Art is "pleasing to the eye," he says and that it is a game or challenge to try to find the big picture.

2.)  Kant, is who I believe to be the most important philosopher to the theory of aesthetics. Kant developed his ideas in the 18th century and he felt that aesthetic experience comes from the imagination.  He believed that beauty has no framework or principles when is comes to art.  Meaning that, beauty is based on ones own feelings.  He contributed to many other philosophers beliefs like Schiller and Hegel, who built on his ideas of aesthetics and art.

3.)  I though Changeux and Ramachandran scientific view of aesthetics and art was very interesting.  They both came up with relevant and various beliefs on how the brain can interpret art.  From Changeux, the most interesting fact I learned from him was how there is a "genetic envelope" which means that art comes from our ancestors.  From Ramachandran, I felt the most interesting fact was that art is basically a visual process or a game, and when someone looks at a work of art they are being challenged to find the meaning.  Once the meaning is found, the person is astonished to have completed the visual process.

4.) The videos relate to the readings in the text by teaching the the viewers on how to look at art.  The videos just gave more ways on how one can interpret a piece of artwork.  They both explain how aesthetics is important in the art world, and that in fact art can make a viewer feel emotion and feeling for what they are seeing.

5.) I felt that the first film, Aesthetics: The Philosophy of the Arts, was insightful.  I was able to view how various philosophers felt about art in early centuries.  I was also able to see how the meaning of art has evolved,and how it will keep on evolving throughout time.  The second film, was very interesting.  I never thought how the brain can interact with the viewing of art in a number of ways.  The films have given depth to the readings by allowing myself to always be thinking about HOW I am going to interpret art, and how my brain is going to interpret art.