CNN Video and Article Blog

1. For each video and article list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Aesthetics Video key concepts:

• True nature is an idea
• Plato had a low opinion of the artists and poets
• Philosophers discuss the difference of reality and illusions in art
• It was argued by Plato that there is no art to write in poetry
• Aristotle focused on tragedy in his art work
• Strickly speaking there was no aesthetics in the middle ages
• During the middle ages there was a dedication to God
• Beauty is harmony and perfection
• neoclassical aesthetics proportion symmetry, harmony, and order
• Harmony is a sign of divine order
• Almost nothing you can't treat as beautiful in art and poetry
• According to Schiller art is what makes us human
• Romanticism in the 19th century was the last of aesthetics
• Art imitates nature
• Spiritual core of art is mythological
• Only art can replace mythology
• Art is the expression of emotion

Changeux key concepts:

• Discovery of tools - 2.5 million years ago
• Discovery of Symmetry - 1.5 million years ago
• Discovery of Symbolism - 300,000 years ago
• Discovery of Artistic Composition - 100,000 years ago
• The work of art is human productions

Ramachandran key concepts:

• Art meets in the brain
• Goal of art is to distort an object and make it look interesting
• Picasso dileberatly distorted images
• Culture plays an important roll in Art
• Art is also known as visual aesthetics
• A cube can be seen as a 2-D object or a 3-D object
• Artists distort realistic images and make them stimulating to the mind
• Artists can hide images with in a work of art and as you study it more you'll start to see pieces of the hidden object
• What , How and Why 

2. Which philosopher's theory on aesthetics do you feel is most important? Be sure to mention the philosophers name, era (time in history), and contribution to the aesthetic theory in your response.

Plato often created his art through poetry. When it comes to the aesthetics of him, he's more the vocabulary and and focus on the issues of the aesthetics. Plato was from the 4th century B.C. his idea was about the true nature of art. He liked to use confusion in the authentic and fake pieces of art. His art was an influence among many people. Plato displayed his art in the act of treasion. 

3. What do you think about Changeux and Ramachandran scientific view of aesthetics and art? What was the most interesting fact you discovered from each speakers lecture? 

After watching the videos of Changeux and Ramachandran, the information they both provided was very informative. Personally I think Ramachandran had a better theory and explaination when it comes to aesthetics and art. His presentation grabbed my attention more, because he showed images in which you had to really look at to find what the art really was. Changeux gave more of a historical background of how art came about and was developed. 

4. How do the videos and article relate to the readings in the text?

The readings and videos related in a way they all in my opinion flowed pretty well together. If there was something you felt you were missing you were able to pick up and understanding through other information learned. I don't think there was anything more fitting than the videos and article to go along with the text in the book. All the content had a nice flow to it and I learned a lot from the information gained.

5. What is your opinion of the films and article? How do they add depth to understanding of the topics in your reading in the text?

I learned more information then I knew about Art and aesthetics than I did before watching the videos and reading the article. The information was very informative, I thought that all three flowed well together, there was some repetitive information, but not enough where you're thinking jeez how many times will I hear this or read about it. After reading Chps. 1-3 I thought I had gained a lot of knowledge, but then when watching the videos and reading the article I learned more to some questions or things that may have been unclear to me after reading the text.