Philosophers like to start their debates about particular topics with a definition of the subject in question. Aesthetics is no exception. From the Greek we have anaesthetic, to put to sleep, conversely aesthetic is to wake up or rouse from slumber. How might that apply to art for instance? Have you ever experienced a film which excited your emotions so much that you felt genuine fear or great empathy with the characters portrayed on screen? Fiction has the power to engage our emotions in this way too. Charles Dickens would make his audiences gasp when he read out particularly moving passages of his works. Poetry can tug at the heartstrings and music can evoke deep feelings, whether it be opera or Country music.
So what is the essence of an aesthetic experience? Is it the raw emotion felt by the audience or is it something deeper that resonates intellectually and emotionally with those who have entered that intellectual space created by the artist?
This year block 1 of my distance learning course deals with the aesthetics of nature. It was surprising for me to learn that it was only when young English gentlemen went on the Grand Tour, and came across Italian artists whose work captured the beauty of dramatic scenes in nature, that they developed a new appreciation for the wilder side of landscapes.
Formalism looks for features that define aesthetic qualities, such as line, shape and form. The Japanese revere aesthetic qualities like fragility and resilience typified by their love of the Cherry Blossom trees in bloom.
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