I always start out my art appreciation classes with some discussions on art and aesthetics: questions about the philosophy of art. It gets the students in the mindset that they have to THINK in this art class, and all of the art and aesthetics discussions are usually a lot of fun!
As a part of The Curated Connections Library, I have developed a bundle of art and aesthetics lessons, complete with lesson plans, PowerPoints, ready-to-use editable student activity sheet handouts, artwork questioning strategies, and assessment questions.
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Art and Aesthetics
Aesthetics is the philosophy of art. Every time you say “My kid could have done that!” in a museum, you are engaging in an aesthetics discussion worthy of the great philosophers.
Examples of philosophy art and aesthetic questions include:
- What is art?
- What is an artist? Can it be art if it was not made by an artist?
- Why is that art and that not?
- Why did that artwork sell for $4 million?
- Does art have to be beautiful to be considered art?
- Are a child’s drawings art?
- Can something be art that wasn’t intended to be art?
Why Teach Art and Aesthetics?
So much of a child’s education is concrete and filled with correct answers. There are no right answers in aesthetics. This helps a student’s creativity, confidence, and problem-solving skills. Art is not one thing, and discussing aesthetics helps students learn the depth and complexities of art.
Art and Aesthetics Lesson Bundle
Introduce your high school and college students to the complexities of art with this art and aesthetics lesson plans bundle.
This resource includes:
- Lesson: Introduction to Art/Why Study Art
- Lesson: What is art?
- Lesson: Aesthetics Puzzles about Art
- Lesson: Object Analysis – Art/Artifact
- Aesthetics Artworks: Art about Art with Discussion Questions
- Aesthetics Assessment Questions
Files:
- 13 page PDF with lesson outlines, discussion questions, assessment questions, and resources
- 5 PowerPoint files
- 4 Printable and editable student activity sheets (each in 2 formats–pdf and doc)
If you are a member of The Curated Connections Library, you can get this lesson and all of my other resources for one low monthly or yearly fee. Find out more information here.
Aesthetics Lesson Bundle
What is art? Get your students in the mindset to THINK in art class and lead fun art discussions with this lesson bundle!
Nice post!
I like this description. “Aesthetics” is a portmanteau on which hangs innumerable theories of “art,” many of which seem true to our feelings about music, poetry, painting, sculpture, and so on. You hit the nail on the head when you said that no “theory” is the right theory. It’s really all about entirely personal and subjective likes and dislikes. In a word, it’s about IMAGINATION, and its exercise in all aspects of human life. Some of these aspects we adorn with the name “art,” which is no more than aesthetic expression put into a context (usually social) of some kind. Imagination externalized, and that externalized form being of interest to certain folks in certain contexts, more often than not on a wall in your home, and occasionally in an “art gallery”!!