Ora Asahel, Bimati ~ אורה עשהאל, בימתי

Academy

 

How and why esthetics is important in my own creativity,

teaching and participation in discussion on the topic:

The role of esthetics in Visual Literacy

By Ora Asahel

 

As a writer and in my position including various roles in the Hebrew Writers Association in Israel and as the founder of ANI-The Israeli Creative Woman Association, I need to use criteria for the judgment and evaluation of art.

 

Such tools are necessary for me when presenting artists and writers, their work, in editing and publishing.

 

Esthetics is used for the formation of judgment tools and as criteria for evaluation of the objects of art. I am influenced by the works and attitudes of Arneheim in the area of Visual Thinking. According to him the connection between the fields of the philosophy of esthetics and the ideas of Visual Literacy are essential.

 

It is also clear that in contrast to modes of evaluation in science that are quantitative we use qualitative methods in the fields of art and thus we need the authority of the philosophy of esthetics .It is also important to mention that perception is formed by the stimuli received by the senses. Sight, of course, has the major part in the process of perception. Visual Thinking is a stage in the process of thinking, so understanding the role of esthetic stimuli might contribute to the comprehension of many cases and aspects of human behaviour and creativity.

 

My personal approach to Visual Literacy:

 

These days I am absorbed in my writings. I am writing poetry, short stories, essays, editing, writing literary criticism and sketching.

 

Lately I have also started writing a novel.

 

In my literacy writing, when a text that I have made reminds me of an essay, I know that it must be revised. In my literary writing I feel that I am making pictures with words.The criteria that I use to judge my literary work and that of others, are connected with the metaphoric expressions and imagery in the text. It appears that many tools that I have acquired for my creativity and for criticizing works of art are the result of my study in the field of Visual Literacy. I feel very grateful to my dear friends in the fields of Visual Literacy and media communications.

 

I have presented the rational stand behind all this to the organizer of the coming conference.

 

Thoughts for the panel discussion:

 

Every object of art might be used as a basis for discussion of esthetics.

 

It is suitable to discuss the "what" and the "why "in order to use the connection between the content and the form.

 

In the 20th century esthetics has been interconnected with the Information and Media Communication fields, with design and in applied sciences. Since 1970 there is an immense amount of literature dealing with the connection between Visual Literacy and esthetics mainly for improving the understanding and judgment of art.

 

I would like to offer a few questions to consider:

 

The nature of beauty

Esthetics deals with the nature of beauty and sometimes it isused as a measure of taste. Therefore it is important to clarify this point and realize whether it is taste only which guides the judgment of beauty.

 

Studies show that there is no such thing as the 'naked eye'. The impression is ideosincretic and is the result of pre-impressions and knowledge of the person involved. The question is if there is the need for the pre- knowledge and criteria for judgment or maybe taste alone will be enough for the appreciation of beauty.

 

Esthetic judgment

It will be worth discussing and noting a few criteria for evaluation.

First: for all objects of art.

 

Second: for one field, and I would like to suggest fiction and I offer the example of Franz Kafka: Metamorphosis .

 

A discussion of a text in which a human-being is turned into a bug might be beneficial. In addition, Kafka was one of the best writers in the 20th century.

 

The social aspect

The human connection is essential in our society.Psychology, social sciences, and many other disciplines deal with interaction between people. It seems to me that it is important to discuss the role and importance of esthetics in human relations and give examples, such as in communication whether verbal, written, either through the internet or in any other form.