Aesthetic Lect 7

The 5 Key Elements of Aesthetic
Experience
According to Cupchik and Winston (1996), aesthetic experience is a
psychological process in which the attention is focused on the object
while all other objects, events, and everyday concerns are suppressed.
Similarly, Ognjenović (1997) defined aesthetic experience as a special
kind of subject-object relationship in which a particular object strongly
engages the subject's mind, shadowing all other surrounding objects and
events. In both definitions, aesthetic situations and objects of aesthetic
interest are specified as fundamentally different from everyday
situations and objects of everyday use. Perhaps the best example of this
contrast is Picasso's famous Bull's Head, an artistic construction made of
a bicycle seat and handlebars. Seen from the everyday (pragmatic)
perspective, the handlebars and the seat are experienced as parts of a
bicycle with specific functions (for seating and governing). Also, as with
all other objects of everyday use, they can be judged as more or less
beautiful, elegant, well designed, and the like. However, only when they
lose their everyday pragmatic meaning (as bicycle parts) and transcend
into the new symbolic level of reality (combination into a new whole, a
bull's head), does the aesthetic experience emerge.
KEY POINTS
 Aesthetic experience concerns the appreciation of aesthetic objects and

the resulting pleasure.
 Aesthetic living means taking a genuine interest in all details of daily life.
 We can adopt an aesthetic attitude toward any aspect of our lives.
The term aesthetics can be defined as the perception, interpretation, and
appreciation of beauty. In the presence of beautiful things, we feel a broad
range of emotions, such as fascination, awe, wonder, and admiration.
Aesthetic experiences can arise from the appreciation of human artifacts,

such as artworks (e.g., music, poetry, sculpture, and visual arts) or natural
objects like sunsets or mountain scenes. Aesthetic experience is emotionally
positive and rewarding. For instance, natural scenes like sunrises and sunsets
tend to produce positive feelings of peacefulness, relaxation, and harmony.
Aesthetics is not the same as art. Art refers to a process of doing or making,
while aesthetics refers to the consumer’s viewpoint.
Here are five key features of the aesthetic pleasure (or perceived beauty) of
everyday life experiences.
1. Interest in the experience for its own sake. Aesthetic pleasures are typically
pursued and enjoyed for their own sake. The focus is on the pleasure that
arises from the act of doing something rather than achieving some ultimate
personal goal. We appreciate beautiful things not for their practical purposes
(utility) only, but also for what they are in themselves. For example, we often
go to botanical gardens or to music performances with the expectation of
experiencing emotional uplift. We look at a painting to enjoy its beauty.
However, it is difficult to separate the content of a work of art from its form.
What is beautiful seems interesting, good, and useful.
2. Beauty and judgment. Beauty in the eye of the beholder. That is, we apply
our knowledge of the world to interpret what we see. People disagree about
much of what they find beautiful or ugly: You might like Mozart, but your friend
likes U2. However, things are not that simple. Aesthetic taste is rooted in a
broader cultural context. People rely on their social networks in making
judgments that something is cool. For example, people used to prefer clean-
shaved men. But now men with beards are accepted as mainstream.
Judgments of facial beauty, music, and clothing are influenced by
social conformity pressure.
3. The beauty in simplicity. There is a beauty in simplifying because people

prefer things that are easy to think about. For example, when a complex idea
is presented in an accessible way, it creates a particularly strong experience
of aesthetic pleasure. Familiar stimuli are processed faster than novel stimuli.
For example, the more listeners hear a piece of music, the more they like it.
This also suggests that aesthetic pleasure can depend on satisfactorily
mastering the stimulus. For example, we can learn to like classical music by
gaining more knowledge about it.
4. Ambience. The atmosphere or ambiance of a certain situation contributes
to the aesthetic experience. In our daily life we can experience a given
atmosphere or ambiance as tense or relaxed, cheerful or gloomy, and so on.
We appreciate the way in which various elements come together to influence
the aesthetic experience: Flowers in a room add to its expressiveness when
they harmonize with its furniture. Part of what determines the ambiance or
atmosphere is human interactions. For example, Trader Joe's (an American
chain of grocery stores) presents a warm and friendly atmosphere as
indicated in the workers’ tone of voice, facial expressions, and
approachable body language.
5. Being moved by beauty. Aesthetic pleasure motivates prolonged and

repeat experiences: You never get tired of watching a beautiful sunset. We
tend to protect or purchase things with an aesthetic appeal or try to maintain
their aesthetic value. We feel awe through engaging with nature, or enjoying
great art, music, or superb athletic performance. The experience of awe can
make us feel diminished and insignificant. As our sense of self shrinks, so do
our worries. The experience of awe lifts us out of the ordinary practical
thoughts that dominate our daily lives.
How can we improve our aesthetic attitude?
The power of aesthetics can be used to improve the quality of life. Our
preoccupation with our daily habitual experience masks the aesthetic potential
of ordinary objects and routine activities. The most important factor
for everyday aesthetics is the typical attitude we take toward them. Once we
experience them with a different attitude, we can discover their hidden
aesthetic values. This means learning to appreciate the mundane activities in
our daily life as extraordinary. Aesthetic living means taking a genuine interest
in all details of daily life (mindful living). Being aware and paying attention is a
prerequisite for any kind of aesthetic experience, whatever the content.

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The 5 Key Elements of Aesthetic

 Aesthetic experience concerns the appreciation of aesthetic objects and

Aesthetic experiences can arise from the appreciation of human artifacts,

3. The beauty in simplicity. There is a beauty in simplifying because people

5. Being moved by beauty. Aesthetic pleasure motivates prolonged and

How can we improve our aesthetic attitude?

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