The Aesthetic Nature of the Arts

            The main driving forces behind the arts have to be the aesthetic experience and the symbolic meaning attached to the aesthetic experience of an artwork.  These are the two most impactful experiences of the arts.  The first aspect of an artwork that catches people’s attention/curiosity is usually the aesthetic qualities of the piece.  In other words, does this piece pass the enjoyment/dislike phase of the viewer?  In either reaction from the viewer of the piece, the aesthetic experience is present.  The aesthetic experience may, and is, most likely intertwined with the symbolism attached to the meaning of the piece.  This experience directly relates to the individual through the cultural practices in which he/she has learned to behave; it is the experience of breaking from the ordinary that appeals to the viewer of the artwork.  Some of the aspects of the arts that are definitely involved with the aesthetic experience, other than symbolization, are the complex emotions that humans display, the need for sociality, and the need for humans to be entertained or intrigued to avoid monotony and boredom.  The arts are often an emotional expression that can reach out to masses of people.  This aura that the arts illuminate is part of the socialization and emotionality that is intertwined with art, and is a contributing reason for the aesthetic power of art, and what ultimately makes it such an extraordinary experience. 

Another aspect of the aesthetic and social experience of the arts is the process of going to a museum or viewing a piece of art.  There are codes of behavior/mannerisms that are expected in viewing an exhibit; the experience of going to a museum with people and feeling connected, through a piece of art to one another because of the realization of a shared similar view or belief; and in this context, it is the ritualization of the way we appreciate the arts that make it a social behavior.  People flock to view an exhibit or artwork that speaks to them, and once there, people exchange their ideas about the aesthetic and symbolic nature of the piece that appeals to them, making that piece significant and further connecting people together, and thusly connecting them to the intensity of experiencing that art work.  This connectivity is what makes the arts so relevant in cultures across humanity; it is feeling of something much larger than oneself. All of this appreciation is impossible without the aesthetic experience of art.  All of these factors of the aesthetic experience of art cause a break from monotony and the mundane.