On May 21, 2015, I presented a new lecture, “Introducing Aesthetics” to the 4th Grade at Central School in East Hanover, NJ. I asked the students about what they liked and didn’t like, starting with food, for instance. I asked who prefers a pizza for dinner, and who prefers broccoli? This element of a person’s “taste” can be applied to aesthetics. We compared the Mona Lisa to a Picasso portrait of Dora Maar, and we had a look famous examples of architecture and sculpture, too.
My personal interest, of course, is music. I played examples from the classical world of Beethoven through to Shoenberg. I also threw in some popular music, from Elvis Presley to the White Stripes. Many Elvis songs tells a narrative story, with a beginning, middle, and end. Many White Stripes songs, in contrast, feature lyrics that are fragmentary and somewhat surrealist. Also, the White Stripes are more likely to employ a yelling, shouting style of singing compared to Elvis’s croon.
But these facts are only the start of aesthetics. One might say, “I like that particular song because it is slow and pretty.” It’s easy to agree on the nature of the music, but the tricky thing is to determine the “why” in your taste for slow and pretty music.
And of course, it is okay to like both Leonardo and Picasso, Elvis and the White Stripes. Some people even like broccoli on their pizza.
Here are a few pictures from the day. One thing we all learned is that I point, point, point way too much!
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