Fine Arts

Background Information

As previously stated, one of the most valuable aspects of this course is introducing you to your God-given aesthetic capacity. You already know the components of your aesthetic self. They make you who you are. What you may not know is why God gave them to us and how He designed them to interact.

The bible teaches us that we’ve all been made in the image of God. The ancient Christians called this the doctrine of Imago Dei. Here’s Genesis 1:27 from the New Living Translation of the Bible.

27 So God created human beings in his own image.      In the image of God he created them;      male and female he created them.

When we consider this scripture, our first association is with our human form. Certainly, we must look like God in our physical appearance.  But there is another important aspect about how we’ve been created that adds significantly to our understanding of Imago Dei.  It is our human “soul” as a reflection of who God is, as well.

The human soul is a genuine phenomenon.  Aesthetic science demonstrates through magnetic resonance imaging that there is some sort of electrical inhabitation in our physical bodies.  When observing a live or recorded cranial MRI, one can see how it energizes, activates and interacts with the material in our human brains. The synaptic firings and electrical pathways it creates are truly remarkable.  Science has yet to fully explain this phenomenon, other than as an important aspect of being alive! (Shimamura, 2012)

God gave us the gift of a human body to experience life abundantly as we interact with the physical world and the people and creatures that share this realm with us.

God also gave us the gift of the human soul to direct the actions of the body and learn to interact with His real spiritual presence. That’s right - we can grow our awareness of God’s presence and how He is at work in every aspect of our lives.

What, then, are the components of the soul as described by the bible?  Jesus spoke of this, referencing the words of Moses in the Old Testament.  Here are His words from the Gospel of Luke:

27 (Jesus) answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’”   Luke 10:27a New International Version (NIV)

In this example, Jesus describes the dimensions of human experience through which we can express love for God.  Here they are:

1. All your heart – expressing love based on how you feel

2. All your mind – expressing love based on what you know

3. All your soul – the soul combines what we know and feel, making decisions and conclusions that prepare the body to express love

4. All your strength – expressing love through physical action and interaction

Here’s how we might graphically represent the idea of Imago Dei.

When we express love for God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, we call that worship.  That’s the primary reason God gave us our aesthetic capacity.  In Christian worship, music and art are among the expressive means by which love for God is communicated.

“Aesthetic” is an inclusive term that refers to the simultaneous interaction of all human dimensions at a moment in time.  God also gave us our aesthetic capacity to fully enjoy an abundant life, one filled with purpose, satisfaction and fulfillment while here on earth. Through aesthetic interaction with our world, we can discover and experience that which adds inspiration, meaning and lasting value to our lives.

Interestingly enough, a group of learning scientists led by Dr. Benjamin Bloom reframed these same ideas into what are called “Domains of Human Experience.” (Bloom, et al. 1956)

They can be summarized as follows:

1. Cognitive Domain – the realm of knowledge; facts and observable characteristics that can be processed internally described externally.

2. Affective Domain – the realm of emotions; becoming aware of and expressing feelings in response to internal or external stimuli.

3. Psychomotor Domain – the realm of physical interactions; as prompted by conclusions, taking action and engaging in interaction.

There is a multi-level stratification for each domain called a “taxonomy.”  These have been repeatedly discussed and updated since 1956.  We will not explore how taxonomy levels relate to your God-given aesthetic capacity in this course.  Our 200 level courses in music appreciation and art appreciation more fully explore these ideas.  Bloom’s three primary domains, however, yet remain as very practical and usable frameworks for organizing and describing the human aesthetic experience.

For our purposes in this course, consider these two aesthetic frameworks.

Here is a graphic representation of how these aesthetic frameworks align, interact and complement each other.

When we interact with music and art with all our heart, mind, soul and strength simultaneously, we call that an aesthetic encounter.

As previously stated, “aesthetic” is an inclusive term that suggests there is a singular, inclusive response to a multi-dimensional experience. This comes from Gestalt psychology where it is proposed that the impact of a work is greater than the mere sum of its parts. The simultaneous interaction of domains, in this case, creates a powerful experience that is beyond any one dimension.

This is what makes the study of art and music as creative expression unique as an academic discipline.

By fully engaging all domains (Bloom’s) and dimensions (Bible’s) of human experience, we can fully access all a work’s possible sources of inspiration, messages and meanings, and learn to appreciate its potential for enduring importance in our lives. What a blessing!  We can discover and enjoy the many creative forms of artistic and musical expression as tokens of cultural significance and aesthetic impact!

This is our course definition of aesthetics: Fully accessing then discussing a work’s inspirations, messages and meanings, and potential as a memorable and valuable experience in life.

In this course, we’ll work to help you fully train your mind, your cognitive domain.  This will help you make informed decisions and judgments about the music and art you’ll experience not just in this course, but for the rest of your life.  You’ll learn to understand, then discuss how the creative arrangement of essential elements by an artist or composer led you to feel a certain way.  You’ll learn the difference between appreciating the significance of a work and “liking” it or not or feeling “entertained” by it or not.

By learning how to fully engage your God-given aesthetic capacity, you’ll experience a much more satisfying and fulfilling life, just as God intended for each of us all along.