Happy Atheist Forum

General => Art => Topic started by: billy rubin on January 10, 2022, 03:19:46 PM

Title: beauty
Post by: billy rubin on January 10, 2022, 03:19:46 PM
okay

this is another one of those i-dont-understand threads, brought to you by hermes who doesnt know it yet

what is "beauty?"

what makes something beautiful? bright colors? acvurate representation of reality? weird ability to inspire emotion? symmetry? smell? taste?

beauty seems mostly visual and auditory. is there such a thing as a beautiful smell? im will ing to guess a super taster pro chef will describe a beautiful taste, but i cant.

these are all beautiful to somebody.

(https://i.imgur.com/f6BHkd8l.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/s9buqzll.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/1JJm4yXl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/edQAs2Ll.jpg)


(https://i.imgur.com/EwBvcqSl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/4TvRNsal.png)

why ?

(https://i.imgur.com/YOhpPC4l.png)

^^^ this is a US$9500 bottle of wine. i dont know what makes lafitte rothschild 1900 so ecpensive, but beauty better be a part of it
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: hermes2015 on January 10, 2022, 03:38:29 PM
Thanks for dropping me in it, Billy! I just posted the first of my brutalist concrete paintings in the Art thread, so I thought this was your reaction to a painting that was intentionally designed to be unappealing to the rest of the world, but not to me. The weird thing is that I have had a huge response from people who like it.

I suspect there are evolutionary and psychological reasons for our beauty responses, but I don't know what they are. I just know that in my case, I have a visceral reaction to objects, some of which give me intense pleasure, while others make want to throw up. I suppose sexual preference is a similar type of response. I hope we will get some more informed responses than mine from other HAFers.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: billy rubin on January 10, 2022, 03:45:53 PM
i dunno. look at edward weston. the bastard messed up aesthetic logic for everybody since.

(https://i.imgur.com/DlcgoUnl.jpg)

and yes it was your post that got me wondeting
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: hermes2015 on January 10, 2022, 04:16:41 PM
I've never seen that photo by Weston. I, and many photographers, would find it interesting and perhaps beautiful, for Weston's technical skill in capturing a challenging subject. It is impressive, because the highlights are not blown out, yet there is no loss of detail in the correctly exposed shadow area on the right. That exposure is a very difficult thing to pull off and must have required a lot of fancy footwork in the darkroom, with much dodging and burning.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: No one on January 10, 2022, 04:36:15 PM
I reached out to the beholder, I'll let you know what they say.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: hermes2015 on January 10, 2022, 04:40:05 PM
Quote from: No one on January 10, 2022, 04:36:15 PM
I reached out to the beholder, I'll let you know what they say.

Probably complaints about eye irritation.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: billy rubin on January 10, 2022, 04:42:46 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on January 10, 2022, 04:16:41 PM
I've never seen that photo by Weston. I, and many photographers, would find it interesting and perhaps beautiful, for Weston's technical skill in capturing a challenging subject. It is impressive, because the highlights are not blown out, yet there is no loss of detail in the correctly exposed shadow area on the right. That exposure is a very difficult thing to pull off and must have required a lot of fancy footwork in the darkroom, with much dodging and burning.

weston was a master. my black and white darkroom work is rudimentary but i know how hard it is to get a full range from black to white in an exposure/ print.

commercial black and white developing is trash these days. just gray and grayer. you have to do it yourself
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: billy rubin on January 10, 2022, 04:48:45 PM
okeefe too

(https://i.imgur.com/jE89hFml.jpg)

Title: Re: beauty
Post by: No one on January 10, 2022, 04:51:09 PM
(https://www.trackie.com/track-and-field/img/layout/icon_quote.jpg)this guy:
I reached out to the beholder, I'll let you know what they say.

(https://www.trackie.com/track-and-field/img/layout/icon_quote.jpg)Hermes:
Probably complaints about eye irritation.

Not to make a spectacle of that, but an optometry professor and their pupils should take a look at that.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: hermes2015 on January 10, 2022, 05:09:47 PM
Quote from: No one on January 10, 2022, 04:51:09 PM
(https://www.trackie.com/track-and-field/img/layout/icon_quote.jpg)this guy:
I reached out to the beholder, I'll let you know what they say.

(https://www.trackie.com/track-and-field/img/layout/icon_quote.jpg)Hermes:
Probably complaints about eye irritation.

Not to make a spectacle of that, but an optometry professor and their pupils should take a look at that.

:lol:
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: hermes2015 on January 10, 2022, 05:20:05 PM
I have a big problem in that I like so many different styles and periods of art and music that I cannot say who my favourite artist or composer is. There are a few I hate, although I do acknowledge their importance.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: billy rubin on January 10, 2022, 05:35:38 PM
do you have to like something for it to be beautiful?

the reductionist in me is strong today
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: hermes2015 on January 10, 2022, 05:44:51 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on January 10, 2022, 05:35:38 PM
do you have to like something for it to be beautiful?

the reductionist in me is strong today

No, perhaps I am not normal, but I can see that something is beautiful, without liking it. An example would be most of Tchaikovsky's music. But then again, I think most people are different.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: billy rubin on January 10, 2022, 06:34:22 PM
you dont lime the 1812?

i heard it done with bagpipes once
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: hermes2015 on January 10, 2022, 06:49:25 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on January 10, 2022, 06:34:22 PM
you dont lime the 1812?

i heard it done with bagpipes once

No, not really. I admit that it is exhilarating, but hearing it once a decade is enough for me. There is so much other music I truly love, and life is short, so I would rather listen to a Beethoven string quartet or one of the Bach solo cello suites.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: No one on January 10, 2022, 07:32:29 PM
I agree with the hermes, l can be an admirer, while having a less than favorable opinion thereof
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: billy rubin on January 11, 2022, 01:46:27 AM
then you should both definitely hear it with the bagpipes. its so awful that time will seem to stretch out forever and your life dpan will be increased thereby
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: hermes2015 on January 11, 2022, 02:51:48 AM
 :rofl:
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: MarcusA on April 25, 2023, 08:12:35 AM
Beauty is in the eyes of the beerholder. - Kinky Friedman
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: MarcusA on April 27, 2023, 07:57:38 PM
Beauty is a life-long pursuit. What's beautiful is also true.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: Dark Lightning on April 28, 2023, 12:22:09 AM
Back when I was teaching math and physics, solving a problem on a blackboard can give a feeling just like seeing a beautiful woman (for me). Here's something that is fairly stark, but at the same time is beautiful, to many people. It has to do with the connectedness of the concepts.

(https://i.imgur.com/zAZmleB.png)
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: MarcusA on April 28, 2023, 01:32:53 AM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on April 28, 2023, 12:22:09 AMBack when I was teaching math and physics, solving a problem on a blackboard can give a feeling just like seeing a beautiful woman (for me). Here's something that is fairly stark, but at the same time is beautiful, to many people. It has to do with the connectedness of the concepts.

(https://i.imgur.com/zAZmleB.png)

Einstein certainly thought that maths could be beautiful.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: Dark Lightning on April 28, 2023, 01:54:05 AM
^ A lot of us think Einstein was right. True confession- I once thought that I could develop the theory of General Relativity further. Once I took a B Sci in physics (well, long before I got there) I realized I was completely wrong in that belief.  :-[
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: MarcusA on April 28, 2023, 03:32:28 AM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on April 28, 2023, 01:54:05 AM^ A lot of us think Einstein was right. True confession- I once thought that I could develop the theory of General Relativity further. Once I took a B Sci in physics (well, long before I got there) I realized I was completely wrong in that belief.  :-[

What's beautiful is also true, indeed.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: Asmodean on April 28, 2023, 10:25:29 AM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on April 28, 2023, 12:22:09 AMBack when I was teaching math and physics, solving a problem on a blackboard can give a feeling just like seeing a beautiful woman (for me). Here's something that is fairly stark, but at the same time is beautiful, to many people. It has to do with the connectedness of the concepts.

(https://i.imgur.com/zAZmleB.png)
Ah, the good, old Euler's number! The Asmo's near-invariable answer to "What's your favourite number."

It really isn't - not any more than some other cool mathematicsl constants, but The Asmo likes gently trolling people who ask stupid questions and expect equally-stupid answers. :smilenod:

Still, it's rather a sad reflection on mankind that quite so many faces go quite as blank upon the mention of Euler. Granted, not the most mainstream among the "elite" of the exact sciences, but still. Credit where it's due.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: MarcusA on May 05, 2023, 09:53:44 PM
Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone. - Dorothy Parker
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: MarcusA on May 27, 2023, 10:28:22 PM
What is art but introspection on the question of beauty.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: billy rubin on May 27, 2023, 10:53:54 PM
art is how self absorbed people relieve their inner tensions.

sometimes the results are spectacular. other times they are less transferable.

the succeses far outweigh the failures.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: MarcusA on May 29, 2023, 05:22:23 AM
Love conquers all things. - Virgil
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: MarcusA on June 03, 2023, 07:53:40 AM
Nietzsche's German is said to be beautiful.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: MarcusA on June 03, 2023, 08:06:58 AM
Truth is beauty, beauty art and science.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: MarcusA on June 03, 2023, 11:21:00 AM
What is beautiful? A woman.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: The Magic Pudding. on June 03, 2023, 12:17:12 PM
Yes, if you are a man, not if you are a woman
Quote from: MarcusA on June 03, 2023, 11:21:00 AMWhat is beautiful? A woman.

Not A woman
All women
If they taught cunnilingus in high schools there would be no Karen meme.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: MarcusA on June 10, 2023, 05:29:45 AM
Quote from: The Magic Pudding. on June 03, 2023, 12:17:12 PMYes, if you are a man, not if you are a woman
Quote from: MarcusA on June 03, 2023, 11:21:00 AMWhat is beautiful? A woman.

Not A woman
All women
If they taught cunnilingus in high schools there would be no Karen meme.

Not all women are beautiful.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: MarcusA on June 22, 2023, 04:25:15 AM
What's beautiful is art.  Anything can be beautiful.  We can even find beauty in ugliness.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: MarcusA on June 22, 2023, 05:15:46 AM
Bad art is not beautiful.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: MarcusA on July 11, 2023, 02:59:32 AM
Art cannot escape its own beauty.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: MarcusA on July 21, 2023, 05:34:51 AM
Beauty goes deep within your chest and rips out your heart.
Title: Re: beauty
Post by: MarcusA on August 03, 2023, 04:50:10 AM
Artists cut out their own eyes in order to see.