> No....you've missed the point entirely.
> I don't understand surrealism but I love a lot of the art.
> I don't understand how the universe works but images of galaxies and nebulae
> and planets are gorgeous.
> I understand, to varying degrees of knowledge, how current F1 cars work and
> why they look like they do but they STILL look ugly to me.
> --
> Regards,
> Bruce Kennewell,
> Canberra, Australia.
> ---------------------------
I don't think we are disagreeing here. I am just claiming there are
different ways towards aesthetics. Sometimes the beauty of an event is
in the experience of the event itself, and this is the beauty that
usually strikes us most. This is, I think, what you are talking about.
Yet sometimes the beauty comes from seeing where and how an event came
about. This can have just a strong effect as the impression of a
beautiful event, but requires knowledge behind it to enjoy. Still,
sometimes such appreciation of, for example, art can degenerate into
something really strange. Have you ever listened to music experts
discussing some piece only the author could love? They will speak about
minutae that so easily escape the ears of a casual listener, and they
would rave about those for hours. Sometimes they (usually the
self-proclaimed experts, though, not the real ones) even don't care how
the piece may sound overall.
True great art is able to fascinate on all levels, though. You said you
do not understand surrealism (which I don't believe, though :) ), but
you are fascinated by the paintings. Yet understanding the motivations
behind the painting and the details in it, and at the same time seeing
the overall result is where the greatest beauty lies.
And this does not apply to art specifically. You also mention the
galaxies and nebulae. They are awesome in its own right. I also consider
myself lucky to be able to know quite a lot about their origin and
dynamics as well, and that makes it all even more fascinating for me!
Or, when I start explaining to people how the rainbow comes about, they
would ask me, as a physicist, how can I even enjoy its beauty when I
analyze it so much? I tell them that knowing how it comes about makes me
even more fascinated about the event. It reaches me on both the visceral
and intellectual level, and that's what makes it even more beautiful to
me.
Back to F1 cars; they fascinate mostly on the intellectual level, while
as an overall shape they are rather messy. It is then up to the
individual which aspect of aesthetics they are most susceptible to, and
this is where we disagree.
But we all know that aesthetical preferences of individuals cannot
really be discussed. It just might be that the F1 cars look plain ugly
to you and not to me, and that's it ! :)
-Gregor
