Week 1 - What even is aesthetics?
An “aesthetic” experience is an elusive term to define. Walton (2007) discusses it at length, defining beauty as any pleasurable experience, not just art, with joy for joy’s sake.
As a large group of eleven, we began exploratory research by conducting an affinity diagramming exercise, noting down pleasurable experiences centred around the five main human senses. We quickly realised how individualistic these experiences are, often shaped by personal history, preferences, and prior experience. This reminds me of the longstanding debate in sociology about nature versus nurture: is there a core of personality that shapes how we respond to sociological stimuli or are we all simply products of our environment? This line of thinking felt relevant to this brief but was left underexplored.
Moving away from universal design proved challenging, especially on the heels of Macro UX. What criteria should be at the basis of us choosing one aesthetic experience over another? Is there any research method we can utilise to inform this choice? The group was perplexed about this, so we opted to coalesce around general areas of personal interest, at least for the initial exploratory research phase.
↑ Our initial affinity diagramming of aesthetic experiences within the big group.
Izzy and I were intrigued by the idea of aesthetic experiences that are marred by unpleasant sociological realities. We were inspired by the work of John Dewey (1994), who, similarly to Walton, argues that the emotional weight of beauty is the core of aesthetic experiences. These experiences involve heightened perceptions and can be disturbing as well as beautiful. Negative emotions such as sadness and melancholy can also be perceived as beautiful by some (Augustin et al, 2004).
Interested in the Feminist lens this could illustrate, Izzy and I discussed the experience of walking home alone at night. At face value, this experience can be beautiful, but due to social knowledge we have as our lived experience as women, we know that this is often filled with worry about possible dangers.
Criado-Perez (2019) argues that design that appears universal often only considers men in its process and outcome. She also mentions how men who don’t face these issues don’t see the value in addressing them. With that being said, there are plenty of reasons for men to be attuned and similarly worried in these situations. Instead of looking to fix the current design, can we turn it into something beautiful and pleasurable, as Walton and Augustin suggest?
To explore this topic further, we conducted Directed Storytelling with four groupmates. We synthesised common themes, mainly that elements like light, people and technology serve as points of refuge. However, when speaking with tutors, we were advised to reconsider the Feminist approach out of fear it would fall into stereotypicality.
↑ Our first small group’s initial Directed Storytelling exercise, interviewing women about their last experience walking home alone at night.
↑ During discussion I referenced “The Execution of Lady Jane Grey” (Paul Delaroche, 1833) as an example for a piece of art the evokes feelings of sadness and pain but can be perceived as beautiful. (image source)
References:
Augustin, D., Belke, B., Leder, H., Oeberst, A. (2004) A model of aesthetic appreciation and aesthetic judgments. British Journal of Psychology, 95(4), 489–508. https://doi.org/10.1348/0007126042369811
Criado Perez, C. (2019) Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men. Vintage Books.
Dewey, J. (1994) ‘Art as experience’, in Ross, S. D. (ed) Art and Its Significance: an anthology of Aesthetic Theory. New York: Routledge, pp. 37-45.
Walton, K. (2007) ‘Aesthetics - What? Why? and Wherefore?’. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 65(2), pp. 147-161.