Upon the got to differentiate involving the structural and functional aspects from the psychology of art…
The psychology of art is really a complex topic which description serves only being an introduction to some ‘developing’ field of study. Psychology forms the idea of many facets of life and art or expression of art in a form and particularly through sculpture and painting is likewise depending on psychological theories and understanding. The relation between psychology and art is almost inevitable ; there could be a no art without psychology and vice versa. The artist begins with an empty canvas on which he / she projects his own psychological being and art remains like the medium of that projection. Thus art can best be defined like a medium by which an artist or creative individual projects his feelings and frustrations and deeper psychological necessities. This manner art is intricately associated with psychology. Yet the psychology of art like a formal discipline has not found extensive recognition and also has only very recently gained popularity in western universities.
The psychology of art is however a fascinating field of study because it analyzes the core of creativity and provides explanation to the mental processes from the artist in particular and also the creative individual generally. Yet interestingly, psychology of art is not only limited to comprehending the mental processes from the artist but additionally the mental processes associated with perceiving the art. Thus a psychology of art provides explanation and understanding from the phenomena of creativity, the mental processes from the artist, along with the thought processes from the perceiver. It‘s comprehensive in its approach not just due to its choice of explanation but additionally because art psychology involves explanations from different branches of psychology for example Gestalt psychology of perception, psychology of form and function / order and complexity, Jungian psychoanalysis, the psychology of attention and Experimental psychology along with Freudian symbolism.
The psychology of art is interdisciplinary, successfully integrating art, architecture, philosophy (metaphysics and phenomenology ), aesthetics, study of consciousness, visual perception, and psychoanalysis. From philosopher John Dewey to psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung, intellectuals from the 20th century influenced the emergence of the psychology of art that seemed to possess moved beyond the mind processes from the artist to incorporate the entire process of creation and likewise its perception examining art from biological, social, psychological and philosophical perspectives. Dewey and Jung both influenced the study of art within social and cultural contexts and therefore are largely responsible to the knowledge of art in its present form.
Art is obviously an innovative process and it is thus a deep psychological process also. Art could well be explained using the theory of perception and also as a cognitive process. The Gestalt theory of visual perception would offer perhaps one of the foremost explanations on art creation and perception. The Gestalt theorists were the 20th century psychologists who systematically studied perceptual processes in humans and many of the famous Gestaltists were Wolfgang Köhler, Kurt Koffka, Max Wertheimer, and Kurt Lewin. The principles of perception as given in Gestalt psychology focused on proximity or contiguity, similarity, continuity, closure, area / symmetry and figure and ground.
Thus Gestalists described perception like a procedure that involved not only the object but additionally the context as perception of objects is affected by what surrounds these objects to Gestaltists, things are constantly ‘more compared to the sum of the parts’. As art is likewise primarily about perception, our perception of any art object would depend upon these Gestalt principles also so we are likely to see continuity or closure or perhaps perceive movement in static objects. Gestalt psychology is used extensively to explain and comprehend ‘visual illusions’. For instance, objects that situated closer to one another will certainly be perceived as forming a gaggle. If you‘ve got seen some of those pictures that explain the principles of Gestalt, you will quickly understand that there‘s more to art than simple brush strokes ; art can be as much a process of perception (including illusion ) as it‘s a process of creation. If an artist successfully creates a visual illusion, He‘s almost as a magician. Yet art has several dimensions in its study and explanation and from Gestalt knowledge of form and structure that supplies a ‘structural’ explanation from the organizational principles of art, we need to understand the ‘functional’ features of art also. This consequently is provided by psychoanalysis and symbolism.
In the first 20th century Sigmund Freud pioneered the study of art in its psychoanalytic form by checking artist as essentially a neurotic who deals with his psychic pressures and conflicts through his creative impulses. Freud was interested inside the ‘content’ or subject make a difference of art that reflected the inner conflicts and repressed wishes from the artist and art to Freud on any psychoanalyst today is taken into account as essentially a projection from the artist’s mind and thought process. Freud believed that unconscious desires and fantasies from the artist makes way coming from the internal and manifests like the external on canvas through art. Thus if an artist fantasizes about beautiful virtuous women, he paints angels in heaven like a kind of ‘sublimation’ of his deeper wish. Thus any art work is directly associated with the artist’s inner world and his unconscious regions from the mind.
One school of art which was a directly influenced from the Freudian theory and directly manifests the unconscious is Surrealism which began in the first 20th century, initially being an offshoot of the cultural movement, Dadaism. Surrealism emphasizes upon the integration of art and life with psychoanalytic influences focuses upon the unconscious desires. Coming from the psychology of Jacques Lacan towards the philosophy of Hegel, Surrealism was largely shaped by philosophy, psychology and cultural changes and is probably the most revolutionary movements inside the history of art.
Some of their famous proponents were André Breton and much more recently Salvador Dali. Actually Dali’s work could possibly be seen as almost a visual representation of Freud’s emphasis on dream analysis, unconscious desires along with hallucinations and free association. Sexual symbolism, a crucial section of Freudian analysis is extensively utilized by surrealists. Freud and surrealism highlighted a closer link between madness, sexuality and art however this kind of portrayal met with some opposition also. However, Carl Jung’s psychoanalysis and emphasis on art as a style of cultural expression was more acceptable to some artists and Jung remains as the foremost influential psychoanalyst in art history with his optimistic and constructive portrayal of art. Consistent with Jung, art along with other kinds of creative endeavor could access the ‘collective unconscious’ and provides considerable insights on not simply the entire process of creativity but additionally the cultural elements inside the mind which are carried across generations. In Jungian psychology art like a psychological process could be an assimilation from the cultural experiences from the artist so It‘s accessible for an wider community.
Thus the psychology of art because it develops to some major discipline and area of study could possibly be considered as having two distinct branches –
o Structural Psychology of Art – that which emphasizes upon the ‘structural’ facets of perceiving art through form, organization as understood with Gestalt principles and general emphasis on structure, also using the principles of physiology and visual perception
o Functional Psychology of Art – that which emphasizes on art like a creative process representing the ‘functional’ aspects or mental dynamics from the artist, this content rather compared to the form and could possibly be understood using the insights of psychoanalysis and phenomenology.
The structural branch relates mainly towards the perceiver and the entire process of perception of art and also the functional branch relates towards the artist and the entire process of creation of art. Both these dimensions could be equally important and complement one another inside a comprehensive conceptual psychology of art.