Paul Bloom, a Yale academic, recently completed a new book entitled “How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like.” In this book, Bloom looks at different sources of pleasure (art, food, sex, entertainment, etc.) and why we choose to like certain things. One of the more interesting topics in his book is Bloom’s thoughts about art, both traditional and modern. Bloom states that “what people believe about a work of art is crucial to the way they feel about it.” In other words, we don’t make a value judgment about an art piece based purely on aesthetics alone. Instead, our opinion is also influenced by the history of the piece and the methods used to construct it. His most intriguing argument is that “humans are incapable of just getting pleasure from the way something looks.” The history of the artwork and our perception of the creative process is critical to our overall enjoyment.
Read more on the Guardian’s website