We all have our own taste, but what shapes the way we react to art, why do we like one piece and not the other, and why might our tastes change?
To answer these questions, perhaps we need to first understand what happens when we experience art. The depths one can go to answer this question may involve scientific study of the mind and behaviour. Unfortunately, we are fresh out of neuroscientists and psychologists here at Flight Logistics, but we do have a good understanding of art and those that are involved from artists creating it, to gallerists showing it and buyers and collectors buying it.
Unless we are looking at art purely commercially, it’s apparent that how we react to art outside of aesthetic taste, can be governed by our current mental or emotional mood, how we perceive ourselves, what’s happening around us, and our historic experiences.
Therefore, art can often speak to us in the moment. If we are low, the right art can contribute to a positive change. If there’s unrest in the world, a message of solidarity within a piece of art can give us hope in the same way rhetoric from a leader can, because it speaks to us and can offer strength. If a piece involves something from our past, it can trigger nostalgia. If we see ourselves and or our values in a work of art, it creates an attraction.
So, the art we like can either mirror ‘us’, or be the complete opposite, does this mean we look to art to provide something positive?
