| Home > Scholarly Contributions > Abstracts > Volume 3 Issue 2
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| Volume 3 Issue 2
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A review of recent research on the Golden Section.
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John Benjafield, 1985, 3:2, 117-134.
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Abstract:
The Golden Section has long been considered by many to be the most pleasing proportion. Several recent experiments concerning its aesthetic quality are reviewed. While current measurement techniques are too imprecise to yield a definitive conclusion, the possibility still exists that the Golden Section is more pleasing than other proportions. Another set of studies dealing with a different aspect of the Golden Section is also reviewed. These studies indicate that the Golden Section informs the way we make distinctions such that whenever we divide one thing into two parts we tend to make the division using the Golden Section. Originally a concept in aesthetics, the Golden Section may also be useful for understanding other forms of experience in addition to the aesthetic.
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1983 at discounted rates.
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Crimes against art: Social meanings and symbolic attacks.
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Gary Alan Fine & Deborah Shatin, 1985, 3:2, 135-152.
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Abstract:
Modern society has learned to its regret that terrorists can effectively grab headlines and focus public discourse by well-timed attacks against symbols of the state. Assassinations, random acts of violence, and attacks on publicly valued artifacts can be used to publicize an attacker's grievance - whether real or imagined. Since control over the meaning of such a visible attack is a valued asset, both the attacker and the guardians of public order attempt to construct persuasive explanations of what has occurred. Such explanations are typically presented through press accounts and, when effective, constitute a suitable motive for a dramatic story. In this article we examine one class of these attacks and the explanations for them: that of crimes against art" - physical attacks on prominent works of art. We draw material from four attacks on art works: the 1914 hacking of Velazquez's "Rokeby Venus"; the 1972 hammer attack on Michelangelo's Pieta; the 1975 slashing of Rembrandt's "The Night Watch;" and the 1978 bombing of Versailles Palace. We examine these acts of destruction in the light of the conflicting explanations used by both the perpetrators and societal guardians as attempts to control symbolic meaning. The authorities (public officials, reporters, and editorial writers) describe perpetrators as insane, whereas the actors themselves, despite differing perspectives, attempt to convince other that their actions were rational and socially significant. Surprisingly, in light of the evident cultural importance of these acts, courts typically have given light punishment to perpetrators when the act is legally defined as occurring within an art world. These "heinous crime" are acts which, because of the symbolic richness of the act and of the target, can be used to establish a view of the world, and have parallels to other types of symbolic violence.
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Buy the whole article at baywood.com - online shop now.
To let you know:
As member of the IAEA you receive the Empirical Studies of the Arts
twice a year for free and are able to purchase all back issues since
1983 at discounted rates.
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Themes and variations in Gide’s L’Immoraliste.
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Paul Bratley & Paul A. Fortier, 1985, 3:2, 153-170.
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Abstract:
A number of statistical experiments analyze data on the frequency and distribution of words evoking twenty-two different themes in Gide's novel L'Immoraliste. The statistical tests are simple and standard; they can be applied using widely available program packages The results are evaluated in terms of traditional literary analysis of the novel. Correlations of the distributions of the themes could not be interpreted easily when presented in table form. However, multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis of the correlations not only produced results parallel to the library analysis but suggested how it could be refined. Regression analyses did not generate conclusive results The methods used are evaluated and suggestions for future explorations are made.
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Buy the whole article at baywood.com - online shop now.
To let you know:
As member of the IAEA you receive the Empirical Studies of the Arts
twice a year for free and are able to purchase all back issues since
1983 at discounted rates.
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Measurement of primary process content in paintings.
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Colin Martindale, Michael Ross, & Ivan Miller, 1985, 3:2, 171-177.
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Abstract:
In order to investigate whether rating scales could be used to measure primary process content in paintings a study of responses to a series of nine nineteenth and twentieth century paintings was conducted. One group of subjects rated these paintings on several rating scales. A second group of subjects wrote stories in response to each of the paintings. The stories were scored for primary process content employing procedures used in previous studies of stylistic evolution in poetry. There were high negative correlations between amount of primary process content in texts elicited by a painting and ratings on naturalistic representational meaningful and photographic dimensions. Amount of primary process content in stories elicited by a painting increased as a function of artist's birthdate.
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Buy the whole article at baywood.com - online shop now.
To let you know:
As member of the IAEA you receive the Empirical Studies of the Arts
twice a year for free and are able to purchase all back issues since
1983 at discounted rates.
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Funny women: Social change and audience response to female comedians.
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Alice Sheppard, 1985, 3:2, 179-195.
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Abstract:
It is generally acknowledged that gender stereotypes have hindered the development and recognition of women's humor. In the face of rapid expansion of opportunities for women in the comedy field, previous social science analyses may be obsolete. The present researcher assessed response to male and female comedians in the mid-1970s and again in the early 1980s. Comparison of results revealed considerable change in contemporary evaluations of women comedians, whose rating's now equal those of male comics. As both men and women showed enhanced appreciation for comedians of their own gender, it is suggested that reference groups and social perception provide a basis for understanding tho role exerted on humor appreciation by gender.
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Buy the whole article at baywood.com - online shop now.
To let you know:
As member of the IAEA you receive the Empirical Studies of the Arts
twice a year for free and are able to purchase all back issues since
1983 at discounted rates.
See more benefits!
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