The Influence of Art Expertise and Training on Emotion and Preference Ratings for Representational and Abstract Artworks

Across cultures and throughout recorded history, humans have produced visual art. This raises the question of why people report such an emotional response to artworks and find some works more beautiful or compelling than others. In the current study we investigated the interplay between art expertise, and emotional and preference judgments. Sixty participants (40 novices, 20 art experts) rated a set of 150 abstract artworks and portraits during two occasions: in a laboratory setting and in a museum. Before commencing their second session, half of the art novices received a brief training on stylistic and art historical aspects of abstract art and portraiture. Results showed that art experts rated the artworks higher than novices on aesthetic facets (beauty and wanting), but no group differences were observed on affective evaluations (valence and arousal). The training session made a small effect on ratings of preference compared to the non-trained group of novices. Overall, these findings are consistent with the idea that affective components of art appreciation are less driven by expertise and largely consistent across observers, while more cognitive aspects of aesthetic viewing depend on viewer characteristics such as art expertise.     

1994 Molecular Graphics Art Show and Video Show

The 1994 Molecular Graphics Art Show and Video Show were presented at the 13th annual international meeting of the Molecular Graphics and Modelling Society. The art show—shown in the Mary & Leigh Block Gallery on the campus of Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois—included original artworks by eighteen artists and the video show included nine original animated works. All were chosen for their ability to present the complexity, diversity, and beauty of the molecular world in visual form. Works from a wide range of disciplines were represented, including work by scientists actively involved in structural research, by commercial illustrators presenting these results to students and physicians, and by fine artists exploring the meanings and implications of these molecules in our lives. Included in this issue of the Journal of Molecular Graphics are comments by the juror of the show, T.J. O'Donnell, a catalogue of the art show, and a catalogue of the video show.     

Ellen Dissanayake’s Evolutionary Aesthetic

Dissanayake argues that art behaviors – which she characterizes first as patterns or syndromes of creation and response and later as rhythms and modes of mutuality – are universal, innate, old, and a source of intrinsic pleasure, these being hallmarks of biological adaptation. Art behaviors proved to enhance survival by reinforcing cooperation, interdependence, and community, and, hence, became selected for at the genetic level. Indeed, she claims that art is essential to the fullest realization of our human nature. I make three criticisms: Dissanayake’s theory cannot account adequately for differences in the aesthetic value of artworks; the connections drawn between art and reproductive success are too stretched to account for art's production, nature, and reception; indeed, art enters the picture only because it is so thinly characterized that it remains in doubt that her topic is art as we understand it.     

Art,Culture and Ambiguity in Wilcannia,New South Wales

The claim of most town whites that Aboriginal people of Wilcannia make art but have no culture and the claim by Aboriginal people of the town that their art work and art designs demonstrate their culture and cultural traditions opens up the powerful and productive dimensions of art and culture for closer scrutiny. In so doing, the ambivalence and ambiguity which saturates these categories is ethnographically revealed. How can the presence and production of artworks in Wilcannia and the white denial of culture be considered? Why indeed do these questions matter, in what ways do they matter, and to whom do they matter? How do the categories of traditional/remote, urban/settled and their avatars intersect with black and white notions of Aboriginal art and Aboriginal culture discursively and experientially?     

Developing Motion Picture Appreciation

Abstract

A well-dressed art viewer (who appears to be affluent and highly educated) is observed gazing at several contemporary works in an art museum gallery. Out of this gentleman's view, in an adjacent gallery, a blue-collar worker enters carrying a new and attractive, but ordinary-looking door that he quickly but carefully places on the floor, leaning it against a wall near several artworks. The worker exits the gallery just as the art viewer enters it. With great concentration, the viewer contemplates all of the artworks he sees. His attention is immediately drawn to the door left behind by the workman. The viewer is intrigued by the door, which he obviously mistakes for a work of art. The door is studied intensively and at length by the viewer who seems to be searching for layers of meaning. That deep intellectual pursuit is interrupted abruptly, however, when the worker reenters the gallery, picks up the door, and carries it away. Evidently, the worker's job is to install the door elsewhere in the museum, no doubt where it will not be mistaken for a work of art. Had he been asked to comment on the art viewer's encounter with the door, the worker would surely have expressed some degree of puzzlement and criticism because—from the worker's viewpoint—anyone with even a small measure of common sense (something the “expert” art viewer apparently lacks) knows the difference between a door and a work of art, no matter how finely crafted the door may be.     

Les objets en ivoire du Jura souabe

In the region of the Swabian Jura, four caves, Hohle Fels and Geißenklösterle in the Ach Valley, and Vogelherd and Hohlenstein-Stadel in the Lone Valley, have particularly rich Aurignacian layers. Beside hundreds of ivory tools, they delivered dozens of mobile figurative artworks and several musical instruments made from bone and ivory. They are among the oldest examples of art and music worldwide. In this paper, we present a summarized and updated version of the so far published figurines and recent results concerning art objects and symbolic markings on ivory artefacts from old and recent excavations.     

L’attribution culturelle des sculptures du Jura souabe selon les documents des découvreurs

The portable art discovered in the caves of the Swabian Jura has been dated to the Aurignacian for almost half a century, following work by J. Hahn, but that was not the opinion of the discoverers at the sites of Vogelherd and Hohlenstein Stadel. The dating of these figurines poses questions about the first development of figurative art. This paper examines the validity of the arguments presented about radiometric ages of the finds comparing to their stratigraphic locations. A varied chronology for these artworks becomes clear: in our view, some pieces from Vogelherd and Hohle Fels date to the Gravettian, while others from Vogelherd and Hohlenstein Stadel date to the Magdalenian. The arguments in favour of the Aurignacian do not hold up to critical examination.     

Art/Artefact/Commodity: Installation design and the exhibition of Oceanic things at two New York museums in the 1940s

This article documents some of the experimentation in museum installation designs for the exhibition of non‐Western objects during the 1930s and 1940s. This is a period in which ethnographic artefacts were being displayed as artworks in natural history museums and in which the exhibition of such objects in art museums drew on techniques characteristic of not only natural history museums, but also commercial urban window displays (which were themselves enjoying a period of dazzling exuberance). The article focuses on one collection of Pacific Islands objects now housed at the Buffalo Museum of Science and on the installation designs of René d’Harnoncourt and Trevor Thomas. It responds to the provocation of Alfred Gell’s influential writings on art and agency, specifically, his conception of art as entrapment and enchantment—his claim that artworks captivate, and thus exert a kind of (secondary) agency on people (patients).     

Pushing back frontiers: Towards a history of art in a global perspective

Traditionally, art history is a discipline focusing on the developments of Western art and architecture. It is time, however, to broaden our perspective. The world is changing, art is changing, somutatis mutandis is art history. This does not happen on its own accord. Art history needs rewriting and art historians have to do it. We need to take a critical look at our premises and points of departure, and we need to change the art historical curricula at universities and art schools. At Leiden University, the Netherlands, the Department of Art History has opted for a new orientation and decided to study the history of art from a global perspective. This means that students will meet with three lines of approach to the visual art and material culture from regions other than the West. Firstly, they are introduced to the art and material culture of Asian, African, and Amerindian civilizations by colleagues from those fields, which Leiden is so fortunate to have. The Faculty of Arts at Leiden University, houses a wide variety of language and culture studies of the world. The second approach focuses on interactions, mutual influences, and interculturalization processes in art and culture. And the third addresses methodical-theoretical reflection on art history in a global perspective. The aim here is to formulate a theoretical framework for the study of art worldwide, thereby pursuing ‘comparative art history’. In order to achieve these perspectives, exchanging ideas and concepts with anthropologists can be very productive.     

American Industry and the American Artist

Abstract

I have attempted to acquaint the reader with the pressing need to accurately identify the important kinds of intellectual and expressive behaviors evident in the act of expressive forming, point out some failures in our recent efforts to do that, and suggest some institutional policies necessary for achieving that goal in ways supportive of our students and our programs. In addition, I have offered some suggestions for how we can make our cognitive claims more evident by encouraging more intelligent art learning in schools—by, for example, deciding what students really need to be able to know and be able to do in the arts and how authentically we can assess their achievements. Finally, I have urged that the whole process speak to the educational importance of aesthetic objects, which express artistic qualities, have specific aesthetic value, reflect human motivations, and are both cognitive and emotional in nature. It is all done in the pursuit of a practice that is in itself fulfilling because it satisfies the expressed needs and cultural functions of a real world.     

Art-omics: multi-omics meet archaeology and art conservation

Multi-omics can informally be described as the combined use of high-throughput techniques allowing the characterization of complete microbial communities by the sequencing/identification of total pools of biomolecules including DNA, proteins or metabolites. These techniques have allowed an unprecedented level of knowledge on complex microbial ecosystems, which is having key implications in land and marine ecology, industrial biotechnology or biomedicine. Multi-omics have recently been applied to artistic or archaeological objects, with the goal of either contributing to shedding light on the original context of the pieces and/or to inform conservation approaches. In this minireview, we discuss the application of -omic techniques to the study of prehistoric artworks and ancient man-made objects in three main technical blocks: metagenomics, proteomics and metabolomics. In particular, we will focus on how proteomics and metabolomics can provide paradigm-breaking results by unambiguously identifying peptides associated with a given, palaeo-cultural context; and we will discuss how metagenomics can be central for the identification of the microbial keyplayers on artworks surfaces, whose conservation can then be approached by a range of techniques, including using selected microorganisms as ‘probiotics’ because of their direct or indirect effect in the stabilization and preservation of valuable art objects.     

Contemporary Bushman Art: The Work of the !Xun Artist Flai Shipipa

Contemporary !Xun artists of South Africa’s Northern Cape Province have produced art that has been described as nostalgic and primitive. Yet the content of these artworks highlights astute political commentary, asserting belonging and immediacy in a political milieu where historically Bushman groups have been ostracized and delegitimized. The !Xun artist Flai Shipipa has created art that is a hybrid spiritual expression with inferences to Bushman cosmology and Christianity. Through this religio-political imagery Shipipa’s canvases are a tangible cultural record of assertions of identity, authenticity, belonging, faith, ambiguity and memory.     

La fin du Paléolithique dans la Catalogne méridionale ibérique revisitée : nouvelles réponses pour anciennes questions

This paper explores the continuities and changes marking the Final Magdalenian-Epipaleolithic transition in Northeastern Iberia. It also characterizes the Epimagdalenian world from the analysis of eight sites and the study of the lithic industries, the economy and the portable artworks recovered so far. It also provides a corpus of recent datings, some of them unpublished, allowing us to date the portable art of Sant Gregori for the first time, and reinforcing the idea that the Epimagdalenià would last between 13,700 and 11,500 cal BP (11,800–10,000 BP).     

The visual system as a constraint on the survival and success of specific artworks

Why should vision science turn its gaze towards artworks? One possibility is that understanding visual processing might yield some fundamental insight into the nature of art. However, there are many examples of phenomena that can be seen - such as automobiles, clouds or leaves - but which are not explained in any deep sense by the properties of human visual perception. We examine one art historical question that might benefit from knowledge about the visual system: why do some artworks 'survive' historically while others fade into the dustbin of time? One possible reason, suggested by studies of rapid visual categorization, is that some objects are recognized more quickly and easily than others and thus are less culturally specific in terms of pictorial representation. A second, related, explanation is that many artistic techniques use the eyes as a channel to evoke other senses, cognition, emotions and the motor system. 'Art' is a social and historical construct - after all, the concept of 'fine art' was invented in the 18th century - and thus many aspects of artistic appreciation are specific to particular cultural and historical contexts. Some great works, however, may be adopted by successive generations because of an ability to appeal to a shared perceptual system.     

Picking at the Paint: Viewing Contemporary Bushman Art as Art

In most writing on contemporary Bushman art the art is discussed as a tool of development, a tourism endeavor and an income generator. While these are aims both legitimate and beneficial to the communities involved, they also work (implicitly yet effectively) to separate the art, artist and subsequently the community out of which the art is produced from “the rest of us,” defining these communities as “other.” This article attempts to engage with contemporary Bushman art as art objects. Using criteria of judgment based on a functional semiotics of art, two works will be analyzed to prove that the works may be discussed as Art. The premise is that once people recognize the aesthetic intelligence imbued in these artworks they will be able to engage with the work in a way that is similarly intelligent and contemporary. The art and its people will then stand a better chance of being accepted into the realm of the everyday as opposed to being relegated to the sarcophagi of history. Once taken from this starting position, goals of community development and tourism endeavors linked to indigenous art can become that much more beneficial and life-changing for the communities concerned.     

Bad Hair Days in the Paleolithic: Modern (Re)Constructions of the Cave Man

Although we have never seen Paleolithic humans in the flesh, we recognize them immediately in illustrations, art, cartoons, and museum displays. The familiar iconography of the "Cave Man" often depicts our early human ancestors with longish, unkempt hair. However, this conventionalized image is not congruent with available archaeological data on the appearance of Upper Paleolithic humans. The lengthy iconographic history of representations of our prehistoric humans is rather a palimpsest of beliefs about the origins of humans, "natural man," human nature, primitive humans, and the savage "Other": a history of discourses about human evolution, human language, and the place of humans in the natural world. These images are traced in their anthropological, evolutionary, and philosophical contexts from medieval art through recent scientific illustrations, art, cartoons, and murals, and their influence on the scientific interpretation of our ancestors is assessed. [Cave Man, Paleolithic, evolution, primitive, illustration]     

Observation and visualization: reflections on the relationship between science, visual arts, and the evolution of the scientific image

The connections between biological sciences, art and printed images are of great interest to the author. She reflects on the historical relevance of visual representations for science. She argues that the connection between art and science seems to have diminished during the twentieth century. However, this connection is currently growing stronger again through digital media and new imaging methods. Scientific illustrations have fuelled art, while visual modeling tools have assisted scientific research. As a print media artist, she explores the relationship between art and science in her studio practice and will present this historical connection with examples related to evolution, microbiology and her own work. Art and science share a common source, which leads to scrutiny and enquiry. Science sets out to reveal and explain our reality, whereas art comments and makes connections that don’t need to be tested by rigorous protocols. Art and science should each be evaluated on their own merit. Allowing room for both in the quest to understand our world will lead to an enriched experience.     

Art as "Presented Scenario" for Children (Use of Theatrical Pedagogical Methods in Art Assignments with Children Aged 3-10 Years)

The theme "Children and art" contains many riddles and questions. In these times of crisis in the one-sided rationalist orientation of our educational system, many look to art for a solution. Unfortunately, however, only a few have as yet succeeded in overcoming the inertia of the logical approach to comprehending the surrounding world. This applies not only to the natural sciences but also to the domain of bringing children in contact with the arts. Representational art and music have especially suffered. Theater, thanks to its ludic nature, suffers less. The pedagogy of art continues to employ an informational approach, although now dull and dry information about the life and activities of artists, composers, and writers and the names of works of art are being replaced by information about figurative-emotional content of a very general nature. Special art schools teach the crafts particular to each art form. But the most basic aspect, that without which art could not exist, which defines art as play, namely, its sensuous reflection of the world, remains unexplored. In particular, this aspect consists of: (1) creativity, the imaginative, ludic transformation of impressions of the real world; and (2) the personal element in what is expressed.     

Dreaming of dragons: on the imagination of real life

This article draws on studies of medieval monasticism and northern indigenous ontologies to show how we might heal the rupture between the real world and our imagination of it, which underpins the official procedures of modern science. Though science is not averse to dreams of the imagination as potential sources of novel insight, they are banished from the reality it seeks to uncover. Ever since Bacon and Galileo, nature has been thought of as a book that will not willingly give up its secrets to human readers. The idea of the book of nature, however, dates from medieval times. For medieval readers as for indigenous hunters, creatures would speak and offer counsel. But in the transition to modernity the book was silenced. This article suggests that by acknowledging our imaginative participation in a more‐than‐human world, and the commitments this entails, we can reconcile scientific inquiry with religious sensibility as ways of knowing in being.     

Stormy Winds and Southern Comfort(s): On Categories,Strategies, and Cartographies

How do we see Southeast Asian and diasporic visual culture today? This is the central question we ask in the Introduction to this special issue of Visual Anthropology. To answer the question, we trouble the geographic designation of “Southeast Asia” and how the region’s arts and culture have traveled and are received at the present moment. We posit that we need to see Southeast Asia and its diasporas differently. Most notably, we argue that through the lens of gender and sexuality we can better visualize and analyze the critical and creative strategies of artists and writers situated in many parts of the world. We foreground the collected essays, art pieces and poetry that query what it means to labor for the state, the art world or the academy. And as we emphasize, the collection brings together—in color, in varying compositions, in long and short form—the dynamism of art and media texts in all of their complex circulations.