AESTHETICS: The Last Stand

My aesthetics course began with a sort-of essay quiz that asked to define BEAUTY. The moment the question was asked, tons & tons of definitions of beauty popped out my mind. That was when I realized that it is way too hard to give an exact definition of beauty. Well, I think you do not need to complicate its meaning. For me, beauty is not skin-deep. It is not seen on the surface alone but on what is beneath that surface. Nevertheless, aesthetics teaches me more than that.

I am always amazed by how things in the world are formed. I always appreciate the things that I readily found beautiful and amazing. The objects that amaze me so much are those that I found to be very real in their own sense, even though they are not real, or they are so real that they already look unreal before my eyes. Most of the time, I do not know why I think something is beautiful, all I know is that I feel it. I also do not care whether other people finds my idea of beauty different from theirs. After all, it is expected.

One of the things that deals with beauty is aesthetics. I had encountered the word aesthetics several times but I really did not know what it is all about. Now, I have come to know that it deals with the study of how we put value on things or objects. It has a great deal to do with the philosophical examination of our perception by means of senses. True enough, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” We, human beings are the ones who put meaning on what we see. We define objects based on how we view them. Particularly, aesthetics is concerned with our experiences of art & natural beauty. When we put pleasure in an object or become interested in that certain object, we are said to have an aesthetic attitude & our experience is called an aesthetic experience.

I have learned from my further readings that one of the central questions aesthetics asks & seeks to answer, either directly or indirectly is “why art itself is valuable?” It was stated that art is valuable because art is beautiful. Why, then, is beauty valuable? I think the answer comes out if we will place our appreciation of beauty in a larger sense, and that is through putting an aesthetic meaning to it. So what now is aesthetically beautiful or pleasing? Just as I believe that I hold the meaning of beauty in my own eyes, I also believe that I am capable of determining what is aesthetically pleasing for me.

However, what is aesthetically pleasing for me may not be aesthetically pleasing for others, which shows that beauty is subjective. I believe that beauty is indeed subjective. It is evident in our day to day lives. We tend to dislike those who widely departs with our own taste. Even in small groups where people are educated under the same environment, differences of tastes can still be seen. It is apparent because in my own circle of friends, even though I and my friends share some same experiences, we still find differences in our tastes of things.

The fact that people have different tastes in objects even though they come from the same environment implies that beauty is really subjective. It is true that no matter how close we are with our friends, we still view things differently. This is to say that TASTE is also relative just like BEAUTY & SUBLIMITY. What’s pleasing for me may not be pleasing to others or vice versa just as what’s beautiful & sublime to me may not be beautiful & sublime to others too, or vice versa.

The idea of a “standard taste” is just all in the mind. That is what we see now in our society that is why we tend to follow it. Well in truth, in the end, we actually stick to whatever we like or whatever that makes us comfortable. However, those things that make us comfortable may not be our unique individual taste. To quote what my professor commented before about my idea on this, “yes Rea I think ultimately we are left to ourselves to individually answer the question of what beautiful and/or sublime is,” and “but usually, Rea, we also follow the standard other people and ourselves set. So what we think is beautiful may not really be just our individual taste,”

Even though I do not always follow trends even though the whole world is already engaged into that trend, I am still fascinated with the new things the world offers. I always have a fascination with new things that technology offers and so I find them aesthetically pleasing. I am fascinated by how innovative objects work, not just their physical forms but also by the impact they bring to the people. When I see a new gadget being marketed, I easily develop fascination to it to the point that I think of it all the time, which implies that it really is aesthetically pleasing for me. But it is not always the apparently wonderful things that please me.

I was used to thinking that something great & splendid or grand & transcendental is something totally positive. Burke’s Sublime & Beautiful taught me another idea. I have looked deeply on the different forms of sublimity through his article. When an object astonishes us, we are brought to a point where our minds are focused to that particular object alone and no other things can make our attention depart from that object. Astonishment, then, is the result of sublimity in its highest degree.

The idea that sublimity equaled some degree of horror seems strange to me at first. Now, I have found myself nodding in agreement with this idea. Sublimity is not just on things that we consider as positively breathtaking. The sublime can also be seen on objects of terror regardless of its size. Similarly, obscurity also equals sublimity. Humans are usually terrified of the unknown. Objects, then, are considered sublime when they appear dreadful to people in a sense that they do not exactly know or understand what those objects are.

It is truly fascinating to know that even the vastness of the ocean, the privation, strength & power of several objects and the fact that there are certain things that are infinite, define sublimity. Just as stated earlier, sublime is just a mere word that I encounter in some days of my life. Interestingly, there is something really deeper than that.

I found it aesthetically pleasing if I see objects that take my breath away and consume my time and attention. During my first trip to Baguio way back in 2001, I had seen several splendid views from the window of the bus I was riding. I saw several Pine Trees from the distance, I saw the heavy fogs resting on the mountaintops, I saw houses on top of the cliffs; I had experienced nature within me. Right there and then, I was breathtakingly amazed by the beauty of what I saw around me. When I got off the bus, I was even more amazed. I was able to visit several landmarks and scenic sites and I can still remember now how I became ecstatic upon experiencing the presence of Baguio City. The fact that I had a taken the Kennon Road in going to Baguio made me even more astonished because I only see that road before in photographs. My experience in Baguio alone are those that I considered aesthetically pleasing. I just did not see Baguio as a place or as the Summer Capital of the country, I also had an inner experience when I was there, seeing the scenic sites I only see in photographs before. It is of no doubt that my experience there is aesthetically pleasing, because until now, six years had already passed yet the memories of my inner experience in Baguio is still fresh in my mind. I am still in awe whenever I think of everything I had seen there.

Because I had already realized that astonishment does not necessarily mean admiration of wonderful things we see, I had considered unknown objects as aesthetically pleasing. People always have this fear of the unknown. As for me, it gives a feeling of aesthetic pleasure. Unknown objects are apparently obscure and true enough, they excite my passion for things. It seems to me that the more unclear the object is, the more it brings certain grandness.

The fact that I myself usually cannot explain why I find something beautiful makes that something aesthetically pleasing for me. My pure intuition tells me that I have found something beautiful before I even realized the importance of the object. True enough, when we are astounded by something and we see it for the first time, our feeling is UNEXPLAINABLE. My judgment falls on my inner experience with the object and it is prior to my desire of that object. When I see an object that gives or brings me happiness even without actually knowing what that object is, I can say that the object is aesthetically pleasing.

In my aesthetics class, we were made to see some paintings specifically that of Araceli Dans in her coffee table book and we were asked to stop on the page of the painting that caught our attention. We were told not to look at other pages anymore if we would already see the painting that caught our attention. When I browse through the pages of the book, after several flipping of the pages, a light-blue colored page caught my attention. The title of the painting is Blue Symphony. The moment my eyes caught a sight of it, I knew it was the one I really liked. My eyes rested for some more minutes on the painting. I did not understand what that painting meant but I had liked it because its color had attracted me. It brought a certain degree tranquility within me. After the first view of the painting we liked, we were made to look at it for the second time after a few hours. When I looked at it for the second time, I still felt the tranquility I had felt when I first saw it, only less. I had carefully examined the forms, shapes, lines, texture, and every element of the painting. I had broken down its parts and realize its value. The experience of this activity is another thing that I consider as aesthetically pleasing. The first time I saw the painting, I was already astonished by its grandness, leaving me in total awe. I had no desire of the painting before I saw it, which means that it was my pure intuition that brought me the pleasure from the looking at painting.

The painting of Araceli Dans has let me experience a spark in me. It is aesthetically pleasing for me because it has elicited something from me; I was able to experience things while looking at it such as the experience of feeling tranquility. I have read that when a painting brings a spark in you when you look at it, you are having an aesthetic emotion.

I also had another experience where really brought me aesthetic pleasure. In my Filipino 21 class (Philippine Folklore), we had a trip to a mini-museum where several Maranao artifacts are kept. The artifacts are collections of Architect Racho. The moment we entered the gate, I had already seen tabo or those large vase-shaped drums used by Maranaos. I was immediately fascinated with the large drums because if its antique nature. When we continued walking, we saw different Maranao artifacts which have different designs of wood carvings. The carvings of the woodwork were totally amazing. I have never seen anything like those before. Upon entering inside the house, we saw more Maranao artifacts, which ranged from large to small drums, betelnut boxes, Maranao instruments and even Sarimanok. Every single artifact inside that house is carved with intricate designs and motifs. I was in awe when I saw them, wondering how Maranaos are able to carve those tiny wonderful designs on their gadgets.

I have considered the Maranao artifacts as aesthetically pleasing because of the intricate designs of their woodworks and brass dish wares. The Maranao artifacts alone created an aesthetic emotion in me because of my admiration of their culture as seen on the things that they are using. The artifacts are suggestive of the Maranao culture so through looking at each artifact and examining the intricate designs carved on it, I also feel the a dose of their culture which is an extraordinary experience.

It is apparent now that anything that gives me an aesthetic emotion is aesthetically pleasing. Jumping off from the Maranao artifacts, I also see movies o films to be aesthetically pleasing – not all of them though. The very best examples of movies where I experience aesthetic pleasure are the STARWARS Episodes and the movie Titanic.

I have seen all six episodes of Starwars and I can really say that it had brought me the beauty of a real artwork, a masterpiece. Starwars never failed to bring me into an ecstatic sensation, feeling both the thrill, suspense, action and romance in its six episodes. The movie series is truly a work of art. The actors and actresses (Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen) of the movies had created STARS in them. Christensen’s character as Anakin Skywalker has been known almost to all, McGreogor’s character as Obi Wan Kenobi has been played very well, not to mention the very exceptional character of Portman as Padme. Starwars is truly a transcendental fiction that brought me inside the big screen. Every question that I had raised from the beginning of the movies was answered by its succeeding scenes and episodes.

Titanic, on the other hand, is in itself truly titanic. There is no doubt to it for that movie has gained several awards including its screen performers. The impact of Titanic to me was really gigantic and just like what I felt with Starwars, it had brought an aesthetic emotion.

Along with the movies are the pictorial representation of the scenes. These scenes are like moving photographs. A photograph aesthetically pleases me if it looks so real to the extent that one might think it is unreal, and if it brings me the truth that I was once in. Sometimes, art deceives us in a sense that it takes the truth away from us. I have learned that from Plato. I can say that photographs are imitations of reality because they let us experience again the reality we once have been. A photograph is a record of the past and that in itself makes it beautiful. It brings to us once the again the beauty that we had experienced before. The beauty alone of the memory that the photograph brings provides a kind of truth that we know because we had already experienced it.

After everything that I have learned while studying aesthetics, I have come up with my own definitions of what is aesthetically pleasing for me. To conclude, what are aesthetically pleasing for me are those objects that let me experience a touch of reality, those which gives me aesthetic emotions that whenever I look at them, I feel a certain spark and intensity, those things that continue to still have a great impact to me even after a long time had already passed, and those that bridges my communication and inner experience with other human beings.

However, I still respect whatever opinion others may have about what is really aesthetically pleasing. This is what I think of, this is what I believed in, and this is I who speak here.