Eric Gardner
Prof. Emerson
ENG 110 – J
12 April 2018
Beauty and the Beast
One of the most fascinating things about beauty, is just how true the old cliche is. Beauty is best understood through the eye of its beholder. It is up to an individual what they choose to define as beauty. Is beauty something aesthetically pleasing? Because there is no clear consensus on what beauty is, there is no consensus on what things can be defined as beautiful. And that is okay. If anything, this vagueness enhances the natural wonder of beauty, in that it is elusive yet omnipresent. In nowhere else is this sort of free-range ideals system more celebrated, than in John Armstrong’s essay “La Bella Vita”. To me however, beauty represents a friend who offers valuable advice. Beauty, or at least true beauty, allows the observer to unlock their inner thoughts and to question what really matters in life.
Too often, we worry about the usual suspects things in life; money, gaudy trinkets, and fast cars, at the expense of what really matters. No one is immune from this line of thinking, but that is not necessarily our fault. It is what society, the “shared delusion”, has conditioned us to believe is beautiful and valuable. These beliefs are so pervasive, that some people are uncomfortable when faced with true beauty and turn away in distaste. Things like soaring mountains, or painstakingly crafted paintings. These are the things that truly matter, things that don’t belong to any one person, but are created or exist for the enjoyment of all.
I am reminded of this when I go hiking to take photographs of nature. It always takes me a few hours to shed my man-made concerns, and transition into enjoying the scenery all around me. When I am experiencing the environment like this, the way our ancestors did thousands of years ago, I truly feel connected to something more. Something beautiful. These hikes never cease to amaze, regardless of how many times I have already photographed the same spot on the same trail. As I’m sure anyone who has struggled to get the perfect selfie can attest, the most minute detail can completely change a photograph. The lighting, subtle facial movements, camera angles, which side of the face, etc.
(Here we see the same photo, at the same angle. The only changes that has occured is a decrease in the amount of light, and the addition of a black and white filter. Both of these changes can be applied organically while taking a photo, according to the intent of a photographer. How does the photo on the left make you feel? How does the photo on the right make you feel?)
To me, true beauty is an intersection between three points; visual aesthetics, backstory, and intricacy. Visual aesthetics refers to how the item in question makes both the observer, and the eye of the observer happy. Perhaps it’s a perfectly aligned photograph, or a well-crafted painting, where every part of it sings in perfect harmony to the viewer. Then, the backstory. For example, the motivations and context behind an auto-portrait from the early 1800s, or the storied history of the Grand Canyon’s formation. Finally, intricacy refers to the amount of work and love put into a piece of beauty (if man-made), or the subtleties and amount of time that are required to carve a canyon out of water (if a natural phenomenon). When these three factors align together, then you truly have something beautiful.
The beauty and appeal of art also allows it to be used as a tool for propaganda. This form of art can motivate individuals to agree with a specific message, or encourage the viewer to self-improve. For example, the short video “What is Art Used For” explains how art can be used “…to stand up for the best sides of human nature”. Ultimately, this art becomes propaganda for human nature, in that it improves not only an individual, but also the wider community. This encourages involvement in said community. Art encourages one not only to better oneself, but also to better others around them. In addition to that, when art is displayed throughout a community, it fosters a sense of connectedness and involvement in a quaint sort of “local beauty”. Locals are drawn into feeling better about their hometown, and actively try to better it. In short, propaganda art causes its observers to reconnect with their significant community, and ultimately leads to more positive feelings on their part.
Armstrong is able to connect beauty and this motivation to do good by describing Schiller’s belief on what beauty is. Schiller says that humans have two drives, the ‘sense’ and ‘form’ drive, the former being a drive that appeals to short term gratification and the later being a drive that craves coherence and understanding. Schiller explains that for something to be perceived as beautiful, there has to be engagement of both the sense drive as well as the form drive. The sense drive is engaged while one looks at an image or even a person and analyzes said person in order to determine which emotion is being expressed. The form drive deals with the logical reasonings as to why something is beautiful, for example, symmetry. Of course, these theories were developed nearly 250 years ago, long before our modern understandings of science developed, and they are certainly not necessarily accurate in each and every situation. However, when these two drives are engaged, we tend to perceive something as beautiful. Since it is usually desirable to have something be perceived as beautiful, it follows then that artists often make great pains to incorporate both drives into their work, in whatever form that may take.
According to Armstrong, “[Beauty]… lies in the eye of the beholder. [That’s] a kindly notion…[that]…seeks to make peace between people who have very different tastes” . As has already been discussed, subjective beauty can be objectively harnessed to create objective positive effects. Beauty can come in many “flavors”; for example beauty in nature, or nature in art and paintings Much like a balanced diet, consuming a variety of beauty allows you to rebalance, and refocus on that which is truly significant. However, if we allow our stresses to win, and refuse to take the effort—yes the effort—to perceive beauty, then we run the risk of falling into a dangerous rut. We run the risk of becoming the Beast, of “The Beauty and the Beast” fame. Greedy and money loving, the titular Beast denied aid and comfort to an elderly woman because she didn’t match his warped sense of beauty. It was only too late, that she revealed her true form as a beautiful fairy. As a punishment for his slight, she turned him into a hideous Beast. But the truth is, that prince was already a beast. His cruelty, greed, and selfish refusal to acknowledge others, are traits far more grotesque than any fur or fangs could ever be. If we ignore beauty’s knock on our door, we do so at our own peril.
Works Cited
Armstrong, John. “La Bella Vita.” True Beauty Pleases the Eye and the Mind-but Can It Help Us to Become Better People?, Aeon Media Group, 14 Feb. 2014, aeon.co/essays/canbeauty-help-us-to-become-better-people.
The Book of Life. “What Is Art For?” The Book of Life, 23 Apr. 2018, www.thebookoflife.org/what-is-art-for/.
