Your kid could not have done that: Even untutored observers can discern intentionality and structure in abstract expressionist art

Aesthetic empowerment through music

“…Another important aesthetic response, namely the judgement of aesthetic value, has only rarely been targeted by neuroscientific investigation, possibly due to the complex nature of these judgements and the lack of an agreed conceptual definition (for a review on the topic, see . Even less research has been undertaken to attempt an understanding of the neural mechanisms permitting intentionality to be ascribed to music, which some deem an essential aspect of aesthetic experience (Snapper et al, 2015;. Initial results highlighted the role of the medial orbitofrontal cortex in the judgement of musical beauty (Ishizu & Zeki, 2011) and of theory-of-mind (TOM) regions (anterior medial frontal cortex, superior temporal sulcus and temporal poles) in intention attribution (Steinbeis & Koelsch, 2009).…”

“…Indeed, when we listen to music in a restaurant, we might be immersed in its soothing atmosphere or struck by the sheer beauty or virtuosity of the jazz master's performance. However, several authors consider that the act of attributing value, meaning and intention to an artwork is intrinsic to the aesthetic experience, whether the person having the experience is an agent or a recipient (in relation to figurative arts: Snapper, Oranç, Hawley-Dolan, Nissel, & Winner, 2015;Bloom, 1996;Preissler & Bloom, 2008; in relation to music: Brattico & Pearce, 2013;Brattico, 2015;Reybrouck & Brattico, 2015;Nieminen, Istók, Brattico, Tervaniemi, & Huotilainen, 2011;Brattico, in press).…”

Art Is Metaphor

“…It is certainly suggestive that people prefer abstract paintings by professional artists over chromatically and compositionally similar works (doodles?) by children and animals even when labels indicating the true authors of the works are absent or reversed (Hawley-Dolan & Winner, 2011;Snapper, Oranc¸, Hawley-Dolan, Nissel, & Winner, 2015). Of course, there could be a nonisomorphic explanation for this finding, for example, professional artworks are more internally coherent.…”

Children Readily Think About People’s Minds When They Think About Artworks

“…The establishment of intersubjectivity is a prime aspect of fostering creativity. Children even younger than 7 years of age can often pick out abstract impressionist artworks from among superficially similar works, revealing something of “the human tendency to ferret out intentionality” (Snapper, Oranc, Hawley-Dolan, Nissel, & Winner, 2015, p. 154). One wants to know whether, and to what extent, children carry over that ferreting into art exhibitions and the like.…”

“…We noted earlier that her work is not isolated but tessellates well with the work of others. Let us pick out a paper mentioned in the article by Snapper et al. (2015), that is Bloom and Markson (1998).…”