“I didn’t know we stocked that” the Pumpkin man said to me as I handed over some coins for September’s Prospect magazine and some extra for a black coffee as well.
I was on my way to Brighton by train for the Dada South Check in – Check out event, where I had a great time catching up with everyone – Dada Exchange artists and advisors. Trains are good for getting some reading done. I don’t often take a book though, as even a small book gets heavy after a while.
So, settling down to read my magazine (a title I’ve not often bought) I alighted on The nature of beauty by Nicholas Humphrey who writes that our appreciation of beauty has evolved in the context of sexual selection:
Artistry is sexy: “it’s a way of showing off what you’re worth”.
Also interesting is his argument that we believe beauty is something that is made by someone – there is a creator behind it. This leads to an explanation for a belief in or love of God as the maker of beauty in nature.
The maker of beauty is the object of love. He concludes “…our experience of natural beauty will lead to an erotic infatuation with whoever we suppose created it. Religious ecstasy, aesthetic ecstasy and sexual ecstacy will have become part of the same package.”
I think there is definitely alot here to think about, in terms of art in general, not just beauty.
