Aestheticism

Raindrops on car windows, starry nights, pastel colors, glitter, sunshine coming through a cloudy sky.

All are aesthetics, and they impact our generation now more than ever, as our generation’s ideals on what is beautiful have become more modernized.

Aesthetics is the set principle concerned with the nature and appreciation of beauty, especially in art, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Everyone has different objects that they find aesthetically pleasing.

“I would define aesthetics as each individual’s opinion of beauty and what is appealing to their eyes,” senior Poppy Cox said. “ I think aesthetics are important because they allow people to utilize a creative outlet while expressing themselves.”

Aesthetics change with each passing generation.

“I think aesthetics change throughout time,” art teacher Jay Langone said. “I feel like with the invention of more readily available images I mean from an art perspective that’s why you see things in the current art realm like what’s called appropriation art. In that sense aesthetics is changing based on the fact that images are disposable nowadays, and so nothing is sacred, and as a result it changes to a certain degree what people consider appropriate or beautiful or interesting.”

Aesthetics have heightened the way young people express themselves in realms like fashion and social media.

“Aesthetics are important because it tells a lot about a person. Words can be art, meaning they can be aesthetic too, and words are important,” junior Makayla Powell said. “I find things that are aesthetically pleasing on social media and some of my favorite aesthetics are poetry and night time, because they’re different but they’re both beautiful.”

Different groups, such as hipsters or Bohemians, have different items that they believe are aesthetically pleasing and have greatly impacted what our generation deems as beauty.

“Aesthetics have impacted our generation’s views of art and beauty in many ways,” Cox said. “Personally, I see tattoos as having the biggest impact on our generation recently, because people tend to get what they find beautiful or appealing tattooed on their body. Now that tattoos are becoming more widely accepted, I think that when institutions judge you based off of them it has a large impact today.”

The American Society for Aesthetics (ASA), founded in 1942, makes it a goal to study, research, discuss and publish about aesthetics, both classical and modern; this includes visual arts, theater, music and literature.

“Some things are classically beautiful and some parts of aesthetics that will never change, but in terms of our view today I feel like aesthetics have changed today based on the availability of images,” Langone said.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, also known as the Met, located in New York City, is going to have an exhibit titled “The Aesthetic Movement in America” opening this summer.

According to the exhibit description, “the display explores Aestheticism as a cultural phenomenon of its time that promoted beauty as an artistic, social, and moral force, particularly in the domestic realm.”

“For me, a general rule on aesthetics is that if I make a connection with something that I see, whether it be art, a landscape, or even food, it appeals to my aesthetic side,” Cox said.