Aesthetic emotions, the emotional impact of beauty

Notice The starry Night of Van Gogh, waking up to see a sunrise, delighting in The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera or close your eyes to listen Moonlight of Debussy are inexplicable experiences that awaken a hurricane of emotions. The beauty that art and some phenomena in our daily lives give off is so immense that it is impossible not to surrender to it at some point.

This feeling, this deep experience that takes over us when we observe a work of art, a landscape or an attractive face, is responsible for emotions. In fact, if we think about it, One of the most important objectives of art is to arouse emotions, communicate them, share them or awaken them in the observer. Hence, such a deep connection. Now, they are not just any emotions, we are talking about aesthetic emotions.

“Artistic beauty does not consist in representing a beautiful thing, but in the beautiful representation of a thing.”

-Immanuel Kant-

aesthetic emotions

Aesthetic emotions are the emotional response to beauty, before any type of beauty, according to Rafael Bisquerra, professor at the University of Barcelona. In this context, beauty can be understood as a work of art, a landscape or a specific person. Anything goes if it is capable of producing an emotional impact.

“Beauty perishes in life, but is immortal in art.”

-Leonardo da Vinci-

Although these types of emotions occur when we react to certain artistic manifestations, They are a phenomenon that transcends works of art, that is, they go beyond. It is the emotional experience of beauty, that which is born from sensitivity, the result of the connection with what is being observed or in some cases, felt and that produces a very pleasant, almost indescribable sensation.

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However, Aesthetic emotions do not only encompass the aspect of pleasure, the pleasant and the positive.; unpleasant and negative sensations also make them up. For example, when looking at the painting of The May 3 shootings From Goya we can feel rage, anger or anxiety, depending on the meaning we give it and our personal history. As well as observing the sculpture Psyche’s love by Antonio Canova can awaken nostalgia, love and tenderness in us. It all depends on our view.

The important thing is the magic resulting from the connection with beauty, the personal experience of emotional impact. Hence, the concept of aesthetic emotions is so ambiguous, since each of us experiences them from different stimuli. Furthermore, they are a practically unknown phenomenon, which has both its defenders and detractors. Some of the authors who have referred to them are Dickie (1974), Lazarus (1991), Hjort and Laver (1997) and Levinson (1997).

The mystery of aesthetic emotions, and at the same time the difficulty, is found in understand how and under what conditions they can originate through artistic, sporting, scientific events, etc. Hence, the educational field is considered one of the best contexts to initiate contact with them.

“Beauty does not look, it’s just look”.

-Albert Einstein-

Aesthetic emotions in education

According to Rafael Bisquerra, One goal of education should be to savor aesthetic emotions. Introduce students to this type of emotions not only on a theoretical level, but also on a practical level through the introduction of situations that favor emotional experiences of an aesthetic nature. That is, learn to get excited and enjoy it, as Bisquerra points out.

“It is difficult to judge beauty: beauty is an enigma.”

-Fyodor Dostoevsky-

This methodology not only facilitates contact with the emotional world for students, but also In some way it also influences aspects such as emotional awareness and regulation. Contemplating a work of art can awaken various feelings and emotions, depending on the context and the student’s personal history, which they must learn to manage.

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Thus, subjects such as plastic education, music, natural sciences or art history would become the main vehicle for this type of emotions from an experiential perspective, which in turn would act as a way to motivate learning. However, This implies that emotional education is considered as a transversal topic that should be integrated into the curriculum.

Works to experience aesthetic emotions

Before finishing, I would like to leave you a selection of works of art so that you can experience up close what aesthetic emotions are. They may or may not wake you up, it will depend on each of you…

The Starry Night over the Rhône by Vincent Van Gogh

Sonnet 126 by Lope de Vega

“Faint, dare, be furious,
rough, tender, liberal, elusive,
encouraged, mortal, deceased, alive,
loyal, traitor, cowardly and courageous;

not to find center and rest outside the good,
appear happy, sad, humble, haughty,
angry, brave, fugitive,
satisfied, offended, suspicious;

flee the face to the clear disappointment,
drink poison for soft liquor,
forget the benefit, love the harm;

believe that a heaven fits into a hell,
give life and soul to a disappointment;
This is love, whoever tried it knows it.”