During all three of my classes this week (three-dimensional design, color theory and transportation design) we had discussions about the relationships between style and aesthetics. Many of the students thought they were and meant the same thing. We talked about them in relation to the visual world, but the conclusions would apply to stimulation to any of the senses.
After some discussion we decided that they both affected the appearance of things or places. Then we tried to figure out what made them different. We talked about the concept of beauty and concluded that there were degrees of beauty all the way from ugly to beautiful and decided that the degree of beauty was what aesthetics was all about.
After some discussion we decided that they both affected the appearance of things or places. Then we tried to figure out what made them different. We talked about the concept of beauty and concluded that there were degrees of beauty all the way from ugly to beautiful and decided that the degree of beauty was what aesthetics was all about.
No matter that something is ugly or beautiful, it will almost always have some sort of recognizable style to an person; meaning that the observer will have some sort of intellectual (verbal) or experiential connection to a visual situation. Two objects of different styles can have the same aesthetic level of beauty.
We concluded that the two concepts are different and refer to different visual qualities. Aesthetics is a quality that everything has, be it good or bad (beautiful or ugly) and style is the cultural or personal association with the overall appearance of a thing or place.
I think of style as something like a signature. It's recognizable as somebody's work, because there is a theme or motif or "fingerprint" that runs through all their works. When a style becomes widely copied by others, it becomes a "movement".
ReplyDeleteA little off topic, but fledgling artists might see their own style as something more like a rut - something needing to be broken free of in order to grow.