Aesthetic Experience
Aesthetic experience belongs to the category of the modern aesthetic, which is the experience that people are deeply attracted by the object with unique features in the concrete aesthetic activity and they cannot help but study the object. Aesthetic experience is a personality and spiritual experience. Aesthetic experience is a kind of passive perceptual experience. Aesthetic experience remains a controversial field.
The components of the aesthetic experience
The three key components of the aesthetic experience are aesthetic fascination, aesthetic appraisal and aesthetic emotion.[1] Marković did a series of surveys to define that aesthetic experience is a special relationship between object and subject, that is a fascination of aesthetic objects, appraisal of the profound meaning of the objects and the special feelings of the relationship with objects. Firstly, for aesthetic fascination, it concluded that aesthetic experience is associated with Arousal.[1] It means the greater the interest of the object, the higher the aesthetic charm. In that case, object can be both pleasant and unpleasant, as long as it has enough attraction. Complex, irregular and unusual stimuli can draw more attention and interest than simple, regular stimuli. [2] Marković said that it is similar to the process of aesthetic fascination.[1]
Secondly, it is about the functional relationship between different components of the aesthetic experience. In Marković’s model, there are two stages to explain them, the initial and main stage. In the initial stage, the cognitive appraisal of an object is the first step. The interesting object can magnify attention and finally, lead to the state of excitement. Instead of the positive hedonic tone, the increase of arousal is crucial for further exploration of the object in this model. However, Forgas (1995)’s Affect Infusion Model illustrated that the positive excitement affects the quality of the further aesthetic processing; conversely, negative mood restricts the process. [3]In the main stage, fascination supports the cognitive system and improves the efficacy and ease of further appraisals. Meanwhile, aesthetic emotion can affect fascination and increase the efficiency of the appraisal process. Marković points out that the cognitive domain plays a core role in aesthetic experience in this model.[1]
Another author divided the aesthetic experience into three levels, which is very similar to Markovic’s model. He indicates that aesthetic experience is a spiritual process from the shallower to the deeper. [4]The three levels are direct experience, identity experience, and reflection experience.[4] Direct experience is the starting point of the aesthetic experience. Direct experience can also be called perceptual experience. For example, when a girl receives a flower from a boy, her heart will be filled with happiness. Perceptual experience plays an important role in the aesthetic experience process and perception depends on the experience of the subject.[4] The richer one’s experience is, the richer the perception will be. At the same time, the subject can get a better aesthetic experience. Identity experience is a further development depending on the aesthetic experience.[4] Identification experience refers to the emotional resonance between aesthetic subject and aesthetic object in aesthetic activities. There are three types of aesthetic experience. The first is aesthetic subjects regard themselves or others as aesthetic objects. The second is aesthetic subjects identify the aesthetic object with another abstract thing. The third is aesthetic subjects move their emotions into aesthetic objects and personify them.[4] Reflection experience is the reflection on one's own inner world and the attention to the subject's own psychological state. The condition for reflective experience is that the subject keeps the mood in a calm state and is not directly controlled by natural motions.
The history of the Aesthetic experience
Pythagoras probably was the first to come up with aesthetic experience.[5]Pythagoras wrote as follows:" Life is like an athletic contest; some turn up as wrestlers, others as vendors, but the best appear as spectators". [5] This text indicates the history of the aesthetic experience concept. The origin of the adjective 'aesthetic' is Greece. Alexander Baumgarten created the word ‘Aesthetic’. The word first entered the Modern language in the middle of the 18th century in German.[5] And then followed the experience of Aesthetic. It can be said that aesthetic experience is a late name for the phenomenon that had been discussed for at least two thousand years in history. The aesthetic experience was simply defined as the perception of beauty in the earlier centuries.[6] Scholars only paid attention to the theory of aesthetic experience rather than its definition since the development of this concept. [5]
Aristotle presented the first opinion of the aesthetic experience. The great philosopher identified the aesthetic experience from the experience of listeners.[5] The opinion was found from Aristotle’s ethical works. There are six features of the experience of listening when assuming an "audience" attitude; for example, the experience is the character of the man himself and experience comes from the senses but does not depend on their acuity. Aristotle’s description grasped the uniqueness of aesthetic experience, even though he did not point out the name of ‘aesthetic experience’.
Plato is another philosopher who offers insights into an aesthetic experience. True beauty is in the idea. He described the importance of the mind in the process of experiencing aesthetic. And in Plotinus' work, he stuck with the idea that good moral and spiritual quality is the precondition of aesthetic experience.[5]The three great philosophers’ works described the earliest opinions of aesthetic experience, and they provided the basis for the future development of it. In the middle age, the theory and problems of aesthetic experience did not develop well. Philosophers accepted and developed their predecessors' theories, but did not come up with new ideas.[5] but did not come up with many new ideas. Similar to Aristotle’s idea, Aquinas separated aesthetic attitudes from biology. Boethius insisted that men must have their own beauty to perceive beauty, and it should be mentioned that he was an intermediary between the ancient and the middle Ages’ aesthetic experience concept.
During the Renaissance, theorists conceived that aesthetic experience is not only about the beauty of an object; it is also associated with the observer’s special inherent cognitive ability. For example, everyone’s acceptance and idea of beauty is different. Beauty appeared when it measured up to our present senses of the artistic.[5] The research of Aesthetic experience was limited in antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period. The issue of aesthetic experience was emphasized after the theory created by Dubos in the 17th century.[5] And it has become a controversial argument until now. The theory of aesthetic experience was developed well in England at the beginning of this century. In England, there were two factions about aesthetic experience. One is from the theories of Locke, the other is from the theories of Shaftesbury. Shaftesbury’s theory was paid attention to emotional and value issues, and Locke placed more emphasis on cognitive and existential.[5]The psychological analysis of aesthetic experience was greatly advanced by the middle of the century. The Aesthetic experience was started to be explained in different ways. In Germany, the discussion of aesthetic experience is intense. Alexander Baumgarten thought that aesthetic experience actually was cognition, including irrational cognition.[5] An important history of the aesthetic experience was that Immanuel Kant combined English and German concepts of aesthetic experience. He indicated that aesthetic is not only an act of cognition but also more than a happy experience.[5] And at the same time, Kant discovered five peculiarities of aesthetic experience. In the second half of the century, the aesthetic experience started to dominate aesthetic. [5]
The characters of the aesthetic
One critical character of the aesthetic experience – concentration. Concentration is a character that directly involved in the vivid experience.[7] And the aesthetic quality of experience process will get better if people concentrate more on the experience. No matter the experience is positive or negative, the full capacity of aesthetic experience can be realized when people are fully concentrating on objects. Beardsley’s criteria for the aesthetic experience and Csikszentmihalyi’s criteria for the flow experience can contribute to the further analysis of concentration. [8] Marković (2012) also mentioned concentration in his book – that the concentration of the senses is essential to the experience of beauty.[1] For example, one only has a ‘trained’ ear can make the best judge of music drama. Paul points out that aesthetic experience always occurs when people are alone.[9] At that moment, the person experiences a sense of being both an observer and a participant, and they can feel something deeper.
The phenomenological character of aesthetic experience is another important feature. [10]Aesthetic experience process is in a conscious and attentive way. Aesthetic experience is not an empty subjective state. [10]It always has an object of observation, no matter the object is visible or invisible. In that case, aesthetic experience activities always have a sense of meaning. Aesthetic experience activities are valuable, even though they are not pleasurable. To some degree, Subliminal aisthesis will influence the experience of an aesthetic object.[10] The value of conscious phenomenological consciousness is very important to the aesthetic experience of creative artists. In that case, artists can create something touchable.[10] Impersonal theory points out the role of phenomenological consciousness. In the meantime, more observation of artists’ aesthetic experience can better explain the phenomenological feature of aesthetic experience.
The theories of aesthetic experience
There are plenty of theories of aesthetic experience. Beardsley’s account of aesthetic experience describes the value of art, in terms of the magnitude of the aesthetic experience that they can evoke.[11] There is a unique state of mind, and a kind of experience can be recognized as ‘aesthetic’. Beardsley’s theory believes that aesthetic experience is always pleasant.[7] Beardsley did not say that the pleasant feeling is an element that constitutes an esthetic experience, but he claimed that aesthetic experience is pleasurable.[12] And Beardsley’s theory also points out that the feelings can be unified. Adorno’s account of the aesthetic experience is thoroughly dialectical. [12]Art is inseparable from its social function. The genuine aesthetic experience is to understand works of art through internal contradictions.Adorno’s theory is opposite to Beardsley’s. The hedonistic theory holds that aesthetic experience is a sense of pleasure.[5] But the theory is one-sided. The disinterestedness theory discusses the connection between the aesthetic experience and the attitude of disinterestedness; the key point of this theory is that experience is no longer defined as aesthetic when one keeps the practical value.[5]
The contemplation theory occurs in the age of idealism by Schopenhauer.[5] He simply indicated that aesthetic experience is contemplation. Contemplation’s essence is passive. Contemplation theory indicates that in the aesthetic experience, pleasure is derived from the objects, and not from the subject itself. [5]This theory is the most widely accepted view in centuries. People can experience contemplate when they become a spectator. The subject will forget their characteristics and reflect the object directly.
The empathy theory was created in the 18th century and it is opposite to the contemplation theory, this theory insists that aesthetic experience occurs only when the subject transfers their activities to the object.[5]During that process, there will be a ‘psychic resonance’. However, many aspects of this theory remain controversial. The isolation theory states that aesthetic experience focuses on one object and eliminates other objects and it is also a condition of aesthetic experience.[5] Both subject and object are isolated. The euphoria theory states that when the intellect is active, there is no aesthetic experience. Edward Abramowski points out that aesthetic experience occurs when we stop at the threshold of thought. This theory developed rapidly at the beginning of the 20th century.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Marković, Slobodan (2012-01-12). "Components of aesthetic experience: aesthetic fascination, aesthetic appraisal, and aesthetic emotion". I-Perception. 3 (1): 1–17. doi:10.1068/i0450aap. ISSN 2041-6695. PMC 3485814. PMID 23145263.
- ↑ Berlyne, D. E. (1971). Aesthetics and psychobiology. Appleton-Century-Crofts. OCLC 681163327. Search this book on
- ↑ Forgas, Joseph P. (1995). "Mood and judgment: The affect infusion model (AIM)". Psychological Bulletin. 117 (1): 39–66. doi:10.1037//0033-2909.117.1.39. ISSN 0033-2909. PMID 7870863.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "审美体验的层次". www.1xuezhe.exuezhe.com. Retrieved 2019-06-03.
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 Tatarkiewicz, Władysław. (1980). A History of Six Ideas : an Essay in Aesthetics. Springer Netherlands. ISBN 9789400988057. OCLC 851377817. Search this book on
- ↑ Montano, Ulianov (2014), "Aesthetic Experience", Explaining Beauty in Mathematics: An Aesthetic Theory of Mathematics, Springer International Publishing, pp. 85–116, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-03452-2_7, ISBN 9783319034515
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "The Aesthetic Experience". e-a.freehostia.com. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
- ↑ Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. (1990). The Art of Seeing An Interpretation of the Aesthetic Encounter. Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse. ISBN 9780892361564. OCLC 1062889779. Search this book on
- ↑ "Some characteristics of the aesthetic experience". www.collaboration.org. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Shusterman, Richard, 1949- (2010). Aesthetic experience. Routledge. ISBN 9780415378321. OCLC 699712470.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link) Search this book on
- ↑ Beardsley, Monroe C. (October 1970). "Aesthetic Welfare". Journal of Aesthetic Education. 4 (4): 9–20. doi:10.2307/3331283. ISSN 0021-8510. JSTOR 3331283.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Dimova, Polina. (2010). "Beautiful Colored, Musical Things" : Metaphors and Strategies for Interartistic Exchange in Early European Modernism. OCLC 810065058. Search this book on
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