Conclusion and Limitation

Our group started out on this project looking for the universal to aesthetics. We attempted to find out just what humans find pleasing to the eye, and for some kind of explanation as to why this may be true. However, at the start of our expedition, we didn't realize what a daunting task this would turn out to be. Instead of finding the universal qualities to aesthetics, we found that there really was no such thing, in the sense that there is no absolute formula to follow to create a profoundly aesthetic work of art. Despite this fact, we were able to compile general psychological trends in the field of aesthetics, using the study of the structures and neurological processes involved in the aesthetic experience as well as the conclusions of other various studies.

We first looked at vision and visual perception in order to get a bigger base in understanding the psychological effects of aesthetics. Understanding to the visual system is important because it allows one to observe the neuroscience of aesthetics, leading to the possible causes of certain aesthetic phenomena. Visual perception is also very important in understanding aesthetics. Without it, color and composition would be meaningless. Balance, shape or form and depth perception also play a crucial role in viewing artwork.

With a scientific base for the visual perception and the visual system, we turned to the more abstract concept of visual preferences. Although this is highly subjective, there have been studies performed that indicate several preferences involved in painting, such as orientation and color choice in a painting. This leads to the explanation that although there might not be an absolute universal aesthetic quality, there are certain rules that have been established for the composition of artwork. Besides just composition effecting the aesthetics of a work of art, varying social context also play a role. Where someone lives, as well as in what period in history he or she lived will have profound effect on how they determine what is aesthetically pleasing. Also depending on a person's level of art expertise, one will judge art differently.

From here we turned to how art and the aesthetics of art are used in everyday life as well is in the clinical setting. One use of aesthetics and art is in advertisements. We observed what the aesthetic effect in advertising has on persuading the consumer. On the other end of the spectrum, we looked at just how art in therapy is used to help and heal people.

In conclusion, although we were unable to essentially discover a universal guideline to creating an aesthetically perfect piece of artwork, we did find that there are certain trends and rules that exist in aesthetic pieces of art.

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