1)         For video 1, I learned about many different artists and philosopher throughout the centuries that impacted the art world. They each were unique in their own ways by creating theory’s about aesthetic and beauty and expanding on them. Each artist touched on the basic question of “what makes something a work of art” and all of their answers derived from Plato’s theory that art is copying ideas grasped by reasons. Beauty and aesthetic were commonly described as harmony, imagination, and moral understanding.

For video 2, the first speaker talked about the origins of art including the tools used many centuries ago, nonverbal symbolic forms of art, and aesthetic efficiency. The first speaker also expanded on the brain and the novelty and consensus partum it stimulates which makes us look at art differently.  The second speaker spoke more about the judgment by the observer when looking at different pieces of art. He spoke about grouping, binding, aesthetic jolts in circuity in the brain, and the peak shift principle.

From the CNN article I learned about the different illusions that artists create including lines, faces, colors, luminance, shadows, and mirrors. The author expanded on why and how art is appreciated and how we should equally take interest in the art and the artist it comes from.

2)         The philosopher that I believe brought up the most crucial point was Immanuel Kant. Kant conveyed his ideas to the art world in the late 1700s. He brought up important aspects that made me think about beauty and aesthetic in a new light. He believed that there is nothing you can not treat beautifully and that the darkest moments could be made into art. He said that judgments are based on feelings but no judgment is a conclusion or a fact. To see the beauty, you need selfless contemplation and means of the imagination. Kant explained the relationship between reason and human experience by extending past the modern philosophers.

3)         Changeux had a view on aesthetics that derived back to text book information and the origins of where art comes from. He spoke about how the brain reacts to art and what types of representations artists are trying to stimulate in the viewer’s brain. The most interesting fact from his lecture was the concept of novelty and the aesthetic efficiency behind every work of art. It was interesting how he touched on the fact that there is a universal search for harmony and it will always be in a constant revolution.

Ramachndran was an interesting speaker because he took the subjects lightly and wanted to really show the audience what he was talking about by providing jokes and visuals. He focused his lecture on realism, the 8 law of art, and the judgment by the observer. He described illusion as the problem solving visual of the world. He stated that there is a constant search for the unanticipated surprise in each piece of art. The showed some examples with hidden pictures within some paintings and he was correct about the satisfaction you received when you figured the image out.

4)         I think the videos were a great introduction to what the text was going to entail. The text explained multiple concepts that were mentioned in the videos, but expanded on them and took them into greater detail. The section on why artists create art directly led back to some of the key topics the speakers were auguring. It stated that art is always something and it has an embodied meaning that the viewer is meant to uncover. The section that went over the exact processes artists use including form, contact, content, iconography, and subject matter related back to the speakers because I understood more about the process of creating art.

5)         I enjoyed listening to the films and reading the article because they opened up my mind more to what goes into art, beauty, and aesthetics. The speakers spoke about creativity and the methods artists used to be unique and I am happy the book expanded on it to give me more of a literal definition. It is defined as the ability to produce something that us both innovated and useful within a given social context. From all of the sources provided this week I believe it all leads back to he artists and their creativity. They have the ability to define problems, seek connections, and generate and analyze ideas which are all crucial to having a work of art.