3 ms·
I have a lot of sympathy with this article's main point of view, that art has has its roots in the biological evolution of the human species. The author referen
by rikroots 4y ago
I have a lot of sympathy with this article's main point of view, that art has has its roots in the biological evolution of the human species. The author references a book by Denis Dutton - The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, & Human Evolution[1] - where Dutton argues that art is an evolutionary trait, and is shaped by natural selection. That book was published in 2010; I wrote a (short) article in 2007 along very similar lines in an attempt to explain why poetry exists in every human language[2] - it's good to find out that I'm not alone in having such an outrageous belief!
The second half of the article, on how computer-generated art fits into the art-is-fundamentally-social equation ... I currently have no definitive opinion on that question. My thoughts on the issue vary on a day-to-day basis between "art without a human creator is irrelevant" and "art happens in the mind of the person who sees/hears/feels it, not in the medium used to present and preserve it". My guts favour the latter opinion, but it would be nice if I could work out a decent argument to support the assertion.
[1] - the link in the article to the book is broken. The book is available from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Instinct-Beauty-Pleasure-Evolution/dp/1608190552 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Instinct-Beauty-Pleasure-Evolut...
[2] - The Monkeys Who Learned To Sing - https://rikverse2020.rikweb.org.uk/blog/monkeys-learn-to-sing/ https://rikverse2020.rikweb.org.uk/blog/monkeys-learn-to-sin...