Beauty Beheld: The Subjectivity of Art

Written by : Anil Vinayak

One might be familiar with the maxim ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ which is often wielded as a shield by those defending their art or great love. The former holds interest as art is an ever-evolving entity whose strokes and words reverberate to the tune of life around it. Let us examine why each individual appreciates (or fails to do so) art uniquely.

The primary factor that influences our interpretation of art plays its part even before we are exposed to the work in question. Our thinking is programmed to incorporate preconceived notions of sorts stemming from our existing or ingrained beliefs. Simply put, you are more likely to appreciate a Spielberg production rather than one helmed by an amateur director. You have previously enjoyed Spielberg’s films and is aware of his acclaim as a director. Thus, even before the curtain rises, you are inclined to value his end product in esteem.

A study was conducted by scientists to ascertain the level of activity the brain experiences when viewing authentic artworks as opposed to imitations. Rembrandt paintings and their imitations were used as the basis for the study. The subjects were familiar with Rembrandt but did not possess the expertise to differentiate the original from the copy. Prior to viewing each painting, they were told if the painting they were about to see was real or fake. The results showed that the subjects’ brains showed higher activity when viewing the ones the researchers claimed were original even when imitation was presented. This goes to show that the quality of the art does not always take precedence when forming an opinion about it.

Another poignant element that steers our opinion about art is our personal experiences which prompts an association or connection with the artwork. The best candidate to illustrate this would be the somber food critic, Anton Ego, from the award-winning animated movie Ratatouille. Anton is nostalgically delighted by the ratatouille version that Remy prepares for him as it bore semblance to the way his mother prepared the titular dish. I am confident that our fictional rat chef’s dish is delectable in its own right, however, Anton’s personal history with that particular meal and the connotations it carried for him made it an exceptionable preparation in his eyes (or tongue to be more precise). The same can be extrapolated to art. For instance, a frontline health worker battling the COVID-19 pandemic would be more likely to appreciate and relate with a poem that was written during the Spanish flu and drew inspiration from it rather than one penned by a veteran of a World War describing his experiences.

The associations between art and the emotions it invokes have been widely studied by psychologists and neuroscientists whilst critics were busy at work in making or destroying careers. Art at its very core is a complicated thing and the opinions it invokes are no different. To quote a French artist, “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see”.

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