Different kinds of beauty

  There is a universal beauty. Generally, people have a natural attraction to proportionality. That is, if something fits well with its surroundings, or its “appropriate” to be in its position, then it can be considered beautiful. One example is the Marquardt Mast:  

   A well proportioned is more “attractive” in people’s eyes. 

   However, beauty is not a measurable quality. If there is a standard for beauty, then the beauty in a farmer’s eyes will be no difference from the beauty in an artist’s eyes. Relate back to the truth and good chapter, it is not right to just consider about the appearance. Beauty should make connections, evoke feelings, and bring back memories. It is something mentally, not physically. Therefore, everyone have their own way of perceiving beauty. Some people loves nature, so there is the beauty of Sublime: 

Others may like to find beauty in normal, or even ugly things. This idea is called Wabi-sabi:  

Thus, great artworks are always beautiful. If a person thinks a broken bowl is beautiful, then the broken bowl is an art piece in his eyes. When an artist is creating art, he must be creating something he considers beautiful. As a result, he will spend all his effort in his work of beauty. What the audience see is not only his art piece, it is the combination of his mind and feelings. 

Beauty is changeable

Beauty is dependent partly on genetics and partly on the person experiencing it. What we are genetically made to find beauty in things that are useful and necessary to life. We find many animals beautiful because genetically we were made to not eat them. We find others not beautiful because we needed to be afraid of them or they would be used as food. We find babies cute so that historically mothers don't abandon them. Genetics are only the foundation of our views. They are shaped by our environment and influences in our life. Media gives us an idea of what beauty is but it is only one perspective. Every person has their own take on beauty. I think beauty is what makes something unique. Beauty can be something you see like a landscape, it can be something you hear like music, it can be something you feel like connection or love. Beauty is something that creates a sensation, a feeling, that creates awe or wonder. While beauty is in the eye of the beholder it is effected by outside influences. However it can also be effected by inside influences. I believe that we can change the way we perceived beauty  if we choose to. We can choose to find the beauty in destruction, in imperfections, in things commonly seen as ugly or bad. We have a genetic predisposition of our view on beauty but it is shaped by the outside world and our inner choices.

Beauty is like a snowflake

I am often confused by the loose definition of the word beauty. subjectively, everything can be described as beautiful. There are so many different kinds of beauty present in the world today, most of which we perceive somehow through one or more of our five senses, however, every kind of beauty is like a snowflake, completely different than the others. The most satisfying part of watching the TED talk, for me, was finally finding a definition of beauty that encompasses all beauty and allows me to categorize different things as beautiful that are so unlike each other. The definition in the TED talk stated essentially that we find things beautiful because they are well done, which can easily apply to everything that I find beautiful in this world. For example, if i think a song is beautiful, it is because of the intricacy of the notes and the changes in the chords that seem genius because of how well they work together. Or if I am inspired by a painting, it is because of the craftsmanship in the color combination and shapes and lines whether it looks technically “perfect” or not. This universal definition plays in with everything in our world, because our present day is always directly correlated to our past and evolution and our genetics. The reason things are the way they are in the human brain today are only there for their evolutionary function, therefore it only makes sense that our perception of beauty would also be based on our past.

Experiencing Beauty

Beauty comes in many forms. We can experience if through touch, taste, smell, sound, and sight. Beauty is found in both what is ordinary and what is extraordinary. Beauty often lies hidden right in front of us. We often pass right by without acknowledging or even noticing its presence. We have shaped our lives to focus on what's coming next versus what is happening now. This constant rush towards the future prevents us from stopping and enjoying the moment. When we slow down, the beauty in life often becomes more clear. Whether it is sunshine glinting off a raindrop, the juicy meat of a fresh picked peach, or the smell of jasmine carried on a spring breeze, beauty exists all around us it is just whether or not we are able to let ourselves appreciate it. Beauty also appears in what may frighten us. The perspective and awe that these frightful things give us allow us to take note of their beauty. An image of lightning striking a tree can instill terror in the onlooker, but at the same time the onlooker is hit by the utter magnitude of the force of nature which is a terrifying and stunning thought in and of itself. One may also listen to a sad song and be reminded of a loved one who past away or an unattainable future and, although this may lead to a sense of melancholy, the feeling of an emotion stirred up within the listener along with the lulling strength of the melody brings beauty to the music. Beauty is an appeal to the senses and a tie to the world around us.

How My Mind Works

Often times, I am enraptured by my fellow classmates because to me their minds are beautiful. I’m going to try to write what I think is beautiful, though I know I will not be able to remember to include certain parts. When a fellow classmate speaks out and I get glimpses of their never ending knowledge, I find myself fascinated. Never envious nor jealous, but rather inspired. To me there is nothing more motivating than to be surrounded by people that are so intelligent and have thoughts to contribute, for I feel that they are helping me to become a better person. This can go back to how I believe Humanity to be beautiful. Yes, I am aware of the dark that we hold within us and the “bad” deeds that we are capable of. But we somehow live, breathe, create relationships, and contribute to this world in one way or another. There is something to be said about the aspects of life that are not always bright and positive. Just like the sublime, it can be awe-inspiring yet destructive. That is how we as humans can be. We age and our bodies start to share our stories. Injuries clue to memories that occurred or wrinkles hint to whether you have smiled, been angry, or stressed throughout most of your life. To me that’s what makes me stop and be in awe of humans. Now, I also think that beauty can be what brings pleasure to any of the senses or to our inner workings, but there exists the moments when we are so overwhelmed by a feeling that we cannot describe. Where we may be at a loss for words and be completely consumed in a breathtaking way. Couldn’t that be considered being caught by beauty? To view and experience events that are beautiful add to a more fulfilling life, but the dark that accompanies it makes those moments more grand. For without pain and knowledge of what is sinister, can we achieve the same level of appreciation for those happier, satisfying instances in life? 

Art and beauty

Art and visual beauty are two totally different stories. Throughout the art history, the function of art has changed. It starts to serve the religion and today, art is not presented only by the gorgeous paintings in the church. Compare to the paintings from the period of Renaissance, modern art has extricated from the standard of beauty and more focuses on exploring and expressing the ideas that behind the artwork itself.

People are easily confused by the modern art and contemporary art when walking in the gallery. Some of them are not beautiful, nor understandable. How dare they call those things “art”? In 1917, Marcel Duchamp brought a urinal and signed “R. Mutt” on it, and there we go, one of the greatest artwork of modern art is created. People call it art, but what exactly is art? To me art is a way to speak freely and break the boundary. Art can be beautiful; on the other hand, it can also be as odd as it can be. In Duchamp’s work Fountain, he has created a new thought for that object, which emphasizes the value of an artwork is more important than how it looks. Duchamp challenges the restriction that art must be delicate and beautiful. After the technology of photograph invented, the realistic art has lost its function. Since then art serves personal, physical and social functions that no longer trapped by beauty. American painting Mark Rothko is a good example. His works mostly formed by simple color lumps. However, he was insistent that his art was filled with connect, and brimming with ideas. Standing in front of his painting, I can strongly feel the emotion that Rothko wanted to express through the painting – tragedy, ecstasy, doom. They were so powerful that I was even hard to breathe.

To sum up, art shows the artist’s feeling and thinking, no matter it is pretty or not.

Beauty is a Diamond

Beauty is an infinitely faceted concept. I think that you can find different types of beauty in everything, even though it may not always be the same type of beauty. For instance, while watching a production, one time I could find beauty in the costumes, another time I could find beauty in the lighting or the effort and time that I know was put into the performance.  While watching the FOX show, So You Think You Can Dance, all at the same time, the music hit a crescendo, the dancers jumped in unison, and the lights changed—it was a beautiful moment. As it happened I was in awe of the lighting cue. I found that moment beautiful because I knew the effort and time that was put into creating it by everyone involved, the camera crew, the dancers, choreographers and the technicians.

There is also beauty in the intentions of something. As we discussed when investigating “what is good”, intentions can determine a part of the outcome. If the intentions behind a piece of art is to create change, or has meaning—that can give something, like a urinal, beauty and make it into art.

            Although beauty itself is indefinable, it is simpler to point out the beauty that we see in this world, which in turn helps us better define it. Looking from different angles, seeing new things, this is how we notice the whole diamond of beauty.

The beauty of nature

There are thousands types of beauty in this world. It is hard to define because everyone valued different beauty, and there will be a lot of answer of what is beauty in this world. Personally, the beauty of nature is the most beautiful to me because people could learn a lot of things from it, and it inspired human so much. For example, in the field of art, there is sublime that show the powerfulness of nature, and weakness of human. Also, the nature could never be perfect, so there is wabi-wabi from Japan to teach people, learning to feel the beauty of imperfection. Also, the pattern of nature also inspired technology to improve. Such as the people was inspired by the bird that thy could fly in the sky, so they created the plane. Also, in the field of fashion, designer was inspired by the nature a lot. For example, the pattern of animal fur, the shape of flower and a whole scene of the nature. Some designer put some beauty scene of nature on the dress or the suite. Also some designer used the actual flower or leaves to make a dress. It gives people a totally different sense. Sometimes, people may feels that a daily scene could become so beautiful by showing on the clothes because it is so unique and no one has been do that before. Also the mixture color of the flower could also inspired designer because it is so harmony, and people think it looks good but bot weird. 

The Beauty of Virtue

How beauty could be defined? Can it be defined by appearance, body shape or skin color, or can it be defined by what you think and act? Obviously, there is no certain answer for the question. But when I try to find the possible one, it would be “Physical beauty fades out one day, but inner beauty lasts forever”. 

Akhenaton once said: “When virtue and modesty enlighten her charms, the lustre of a beautiful woman is brighter than the stars of heaven, and the influence of her power it is in vain to resist”, which means that people who have virtue will always shine bright and makes them more beautiful inside. Virtue is an approach for us to understand our nature; those who live virtuous lives grow a sense of kindness. They offer love, care, accompany and sincerity for others, by which they define the beauty of heart. Virtue is power and strength; those who endeavor to live virtuous lives develop confidence inside for that their prominent characteristics offer them generosity and widen their visions, which makes them discover more types of beauty in our world: the beauty of snow, mountains, stars, or even friendships, languages, and other’s personalities. 

People who realize beauty are those who value the beliefs of themselves as well as others, and those who value their surroundings as living things rather than merely objects. They are learning from the good qualities of others, accept and respect different ideas, and never stop self-improving. They are aware of the beauty of nature, get comforts and inspirations from it and come to awe the power of nature. This is the other beauty that those people realize; through the self-improvement, respect and virtue that they saw in the people and nature which they are in contact with. 

Beauty of Calm and Enlightenment

       There is no scale to measure beauty, because the sense of beauty is subjective, depending on one’s own understanding and experience. Beauty can be represented in nature and fine arts. 

      In nature, people are always shocked by the sublime nature, which are the prominence of a mountain, the vastness of the sea, and the powerfulness of the storm, making individuals terrified and scared to some degrees. For example, people find the eruption of the volcano is impressive and grand, because of its power and deterrence. However, to some people, this is not beauty, instead it presents as threat and danger. Therefore, beauty of nature is also presented as something trivial but represents the vitality of life, providing a sense of peace and harmony. For example, in the desert, a little plant is also beautiful. On a nearly barren ground, the few grass also presents beauty, which give people a feeling of vitality of life, making them calm and hopeful. Consequently, not only sublime nature shows beauty, trivial objects in the world also impress people in many ways by their unique beauty.

      The beauty of art can not be simply defined by the appearance of the art work, but should be defined by its meanings and connotation. The fine art should give people some values and enlightenment. I regard arts as the eyes of discovering beauty. They can uncover the beauty of trivial things in the word, and give people lessons. For instance, some artists use paintings to reveal the dark side of the society and the corruption of the government. Therefore, the beauty of art is to let people know about the truth and give people enlightenment and lessons. 

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.

Beauty of Nature and Art

Beauty of Nature and Art

Everything can be beautiful if you think it’s beautiful. Beauty can be really simple, everyone has beauty in them. Like truth and good, there aren’t a specific definition to what is good. Beauty is when people can proudly express themselves and not hiding from others. To me I think nature is the most beautiful life in the world that’s not created by human beings. I think the power of nature is really amazing. Everything seems possible out in the nature. Even they are not the most beautiful plants but they still stand straight to make our environment look greener. Even they are not the most attractive plants, they still made the place become more colorful. When I’m out in the nature, I always feel really calm and relax. On the other hand, the little plants makes me think that nothing is impossible, if you try your best.

 

In addition, art is also really beautiful. Everyone takes different approach and it’s always really interesting to listen to other people’s thinking. Compare to the beauty of Wabi Sabi and beauty of Sublime, I think that Wabi Sabi is better. I personally prefer Wabi Sabi, the clam, relaxing, and not perfect feeling makes me feel more comfortable than seeing the shocking and ornate paintings. From Wabi Sabi, I will have more space to think of my own interpretation to the particular paintings and the because of the not perfect, it gives me a feeling of making me to move forward and aim for the goal and never give up.

 

Both nature and art are really beautiful and powerful. They not only make me feel calm and relax, it gives me motivation to keep going. And comforts me when I’m having a hard time. The beauty of the nature and art makes our life become more colorful and full of surprises.

Own Beauty

      How to define the word beauty? What is beautiful and what is not? I ask some of my friends, and everyone has a different answer. One says beauty is oneself while one says beauty is nice, happy, enjoyable things or people that make us want to know more. And I say beauty is standard, and it is different from different people, and everything could be beautiful, everything has its reason to exist in this world.

      Although everyone has different understanding of beauty, there is a universal beauty that most of the people agree with. For example, the famous painting Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most famous drawings in the world from sixteen-century. The unique part of Mona Lisa is that you will find out that she is staring at you from any direction. She is sitting there peacefully for 600 years with a peaceful smile. Her graceful and decent figure tells people the beauty that there is a universal beauty, and beauty can be permanent that lasts forever.

      Moreover, different people have different ways to see beauty; imperfect is also a type of beauty in someway. Wabi Sabi is a type of beauty that different from the common beauty. It values the beauty of unfinished, uneven, and un-smooth, and represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. From the Wabi sabi idea, the imperfect parts highlight the art. All in all, I conclude that everyone in this world is an individual that has his/her own point of view, and everyone has the sense of what is beauty for themselves. Some people is still developing, and some ignore the beauty. It is very important to find out the meaning of beauty for yourselves and enjoy the beauties that surrounding us. Beauty is everything, and everything is beautiful. Beauty is everywhere, and beauty is inside your heart.