The Longevity and Repetition of Beauty

I believe that beauty is subjective, but I find it very interesting how our personal views of beauties are influenced by a lot of universal and cultural influences. After hearing the TED talk from Dennis Dutton and hearing him talk a lot about the sublime landscapes that have become the known image of beauty, it made me realize how longevity correlates to beauty. For most of us, our first reactions to seeing a sublime image like an exploding volcano or a beautiful sunset is awestruck by its beauty. This was my reaction when viewing the sublime images in class, especially the first couple paintings, but after a while the beauty of the sublime started to fade for me. Although landscapes are draw-dropping the first time you view them, the repetition of seeing sublime images degraded its beauty in my eyes. I think part of what makes something beautiful are its unique qualities, which is why I consider Wabi Sabi to be more beautiful than the sublime. Wabi Sabi is beautiful because it is unpredictable and it comes in all different forms that surround us everyday.

Another aspect of beauty that I noticed in the TED talk is how beauty and value tend to increase as it it ages. An old rock from the stone ages had no value back when it was used as an ordinary tool, but now we would value it as a beautiful artifact. But something we should consider when calling something beautiful, is whether or not these objects are beautiful because of their physical qualities or because of its history and context. Although it may not be as explicit, beauty is directly connected to its age. This is seen in many artists like Van Gogh, whose paintings only became famous and called beautiful years after his death. This might be because people tend to value people’s work once they can no longer produce it, but I think it is very important to consider the context and history of the object that we are considering beautiful in order to understand the reasons why we call it beautiful.