How Art Works: A Psychological Exploration Kindle Edition

This book offers an extraordinary combination of social science detective stories, art appreciation moments, and respectful critiques of philosophers. A combination that is as enjoyable to read as it is instructive to study.Detective stories. Many of the chapters begin as puzzles. Winner doggedly pursues each case, relying on the investigations of previous researchers in experimental psychology. Winner brings the research literature to life, and at appropriate moments even welcome the reader into her own lab. We learn, for example, that even if an attribution is false (indicating that the painting is fake when it is not; and vice versa), most people like and value more highly the object that is really by the artist. Interesting and somewhat reassuring.Art appreciation. An experimental psychologists’ approach to art could easily turn into a reductionist exercise: my positive reaction to this painting or my love of this symphony are merely epiphenomena of brain activity, or possibly confused or repressed emotions. To the contrary, Winner takes our ordinary reactions seriously, sometimes validating them and sometimes correcting them. Reading literature may not make us more empathetic but acting or role playing does. We see more in abstract expressionism than we think we do.Respectful critiques of philosophers. Winner respects the questions philosophers of art ask (and even some of their answers), but she shows that they accept some empirical assumptions that cannot be sustained. I think many readers will come away convinced that the psychologists’ inquiries are at least as interesting as those of philosophers, and probably more productive (in the sense of holding promise of reaching definite conclusions). The chapter on objectivity (exploring the puzzles about judgments of good and bad in art) struck me as a good example of taking philosophy seriously but turning the questions into more productive directions.This book brings together in a highly readable form the contemporary work of psychologists of art, and in the process should stimulate anyone who appreciates art to think anew about emotion in art and judgment about art.

The promo for this excellent endeavor was enticing. I could, at long last, have the (absolute) philosophical standards for good art that I had so long sought after so many frustrated museum trips. Alas, it was not to be. In the last analysis I would have to continue my dialogues with friends about what constitutes good art; Caravaggio, Bach, YES; Richter, Stockhausen, NO. I have very strong opinions. In reality this is a five star work. So, how can Prof. Winner hat that extra star - find my answer!

I received Winner's book the day before yesterday and began reading it immediately. I've already finished it. What a marvelous piece. My only regret is that although I had so much work to do, I was derailed because I couldn't put the book down. It's so smart and insightful, with the right balance between modesty and firm, well-reasoned opinions backed by research. And it is written by a master craftsman who knows how to weave an intriguing and nuanced tale. Anyone interested in the intersect of the arts and psychology (with lots more tossed in) must read this book, even if you are in the midst of other work.

I’m a long-time arts advocate in Birmingham, AL. I’ve just read How Art Works: A Psychological Exploration for the second time - I just couldn’t put it down. Dr. Winner masterfully elucidates the connections between the arts, psychology, and philosophy. How Art Works is an essential text for arts advocates that helps us understand which claims can reasonably be made, which cannot, and why. I find the research cited regarding visual art- particularly studio habits of mind to be of particular interest.I just purchased three more copies of How Art Works to disseminate among other advocates in my area.Thank you Dr. Winner!

I enjoyed Ellen Winner's book particularly for the 5 chapters on "Art and Emotion." The list of aesthetic emotions in visual art and music is educational and personally enriching. Some difficult topics in psychology and philosophy of art are covered in understandable and fascinating ways. The general habits of mind taught by learning to draw and paint as well as by viewing art provide personal growth and justification for the Arts.

This is a dry, academic look at some rather old school psychology as it pertains to art. It neglected to explore the most vital part of any artwork, the artist!Interesting cover.

This crisp clear account of some of the most frequent and perplexing questions we have about music and art is a delightful and informative read. Ellen Winner's life long exploration of the arts and their mysteries, impact, and promise is reflected in every insight and description that she shares. If you want to know the context for our suspicions, beliefs, and expectations for what art is and can do as well as the methods philosophers and psychologists have used to unpack them, this is definitely the book for you. Parallel considerations of music and art as well as considerations of other artistic domains enrich the depth and scope of this extraordinary book. And throughout it all, glistening through alternative views and intriguing explorations, is Winner's love of and respect for the subject. That dedication and reverence makes the work all the more compelling.

‘Over the centuries, philosophers have tried (and failed) to define art. Psychologists (perhaps wisely) ask a somewhat different question: not “what is it,” but rather what do people think it is.’ (1) This is a book about the psychology of art, written by an academic (2). The word academic should not put off non-academic readers. This is a readable and accessible book with academic characteristics (3). The combination allows it to be useful to both students and general readers. It makes you think about art in a way that art critics and philosophers do not. Some aspects are shown to be innate, others are shown to be social constructs. This is why there are so many disagreements about what is and is not art, what is good and bad art and what is low kitsch and what is high art.This is a book for anyone who wants to experience art. It will change the way you think. Unfortunately, it will not give you all the answers you want. This may never be possible. I found that to fully appreciate the book I had to read a chapter or section of a chapter, put the put the book down and return to it later. I found it takes time to assimilate everything in it. The book considers art in all its forms, but it concentrates on the results of formal psychological investigations and these tend to consider paintings, fiction or music. There is little about sculpture, film, video, dance etc.. There is also little discussion about art, neuroscience and the brain (4).CHAPTER STRUCTURES (5): The chapters have similar styles and structures. The chapter title defines its content and is followed by an introductory discussion. The rest of the chapter is divided into several titled sections. Each of these sections describes one or more psychological investigations, including the name or names of the investigators and references to the Notes for further information. At the end of each chapter is an “In Sum” section that summarises the chapter and presents any conclusions on the subject. The book includes some graphics such as diagrams from psychological tests or reproductions of paintings. Unfortunately, the illustrations are all in black and white. This causes no problems for the diagrams, but a black and white Holbein or Rothko reproduction is far from the colour version.EXAMPLE CHAPTER: Chapter 10 is titled “Identical!” and subtitled “What’s Wrong with a Perfect Fake?” The chapter discusses our perception of fakes, forgeries, copies and reproductions of paintings. It starts with a general discussion of the subject. This is followed by a series sections varying in length from a single paragraph to several pages with titles: “The Radical Aestheticism View”, “The Symbolic View”, “What Experiments Can Tell Us”, ”Evidence That Just Believing a Work Is a Forgery or a Copy Matters”, “Is This Devaluation Specific to Artworks?”, “Does the Physical Touch of the Master Matter?”, “Disentangling Moral from Immoral Copies, and Distinguishing Kinds of Aesthetic Judgments: A Study from the Arts and Mind Lab”, “In Sum: Art Works on Us by Bringing Us into Contact with the Artist’s Essence”. We disdain forgeries because of the deceit, no matter how good they are technically. To a lesser extent we devalue copies. Obvious reproductions are completely acceptable. We seem to attach a magical aspect to an artist’s work. A copy, even if completely exact, is always devalued because it has not been “touched” by the genius of the artist.IN CONCLUSION, art cannot be tightly defined. It is a social construct that is subject to change. Music does express emotion and has structural properties that mimic how emotions are conveyed in speech. Paintings can have expressive qualities but the emotional response is much less than with music. We appreciate the effort involved in creating art. We devalue perfect copies and perfect fakes. Your child could not have created a piece of abstract art. You may dismiss the work, but you will perceive the adult intentionality of it. Art does not make you smarter and reading fiction does not give you empathy. However, acting may give you empathy and making art is therapeutic.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________(1) Introduction, page 4.(2) The author, Ellen Winner, is Professor of Psychology at Boston College. She directs the Arts and Mind Lab, which focuses on cognition and learning in the arts.(3) The academic characteristics include the use of references and notes. Each chapter is peppered with unobtrusive superscript numbers referring to the Notes section at the back of the book. Most of the entries in Notes are just links to publications listed in the References section, which acts as an extensive bibliography of relevant with books, articles in scientific journals and some web pages.(4) One study did use functional magnetic imaging of the brain when testing responses to paintings which were called real or fakes. Another study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) whilst subjects viewed paintings to show the areas of the brain that were activated when they were emotionally moved by the paintings. In passing it was mentioned that when we read fiction the brain areas used in theory-of-mind tasks are activated. Music is also known to activate the reward areas of the brain.(5) The chapters are:Part One - Introduction; 1. Perennial Questions; 2. Can This Be Art?Part Two - Art and Emotion: 3. Wordless Sounds: Hearing Emotion in Music; 4. Feeling From Music: Emotions in Music; 5. Color and Form: Emotional Connotations of Visual Art; 6. Emotions in the Art Museum: Why Don’t We Feel Like Crying? 7. Drawn to Pain: the Paradoxical Enjoyment of Negative Emotions in Art.Part Three - Art and Judgment: 8. Is It Good? Or Just Familiar. 9. Too Easy to Be Good? The Effort Bias. 10. Identical! What’s Wrong with a Perfect Fake? 11. “But My Kid Could Have Done That!”.Part Four - What Art Does – and Does Not – Do for Us: 12. Silver Bullets: Does Art Make Us Smarter? 13. The Lives of Others: Fiction and Empathy. 14. Does Making Art Improve Well-Being?Part Five - Making Art; Who Makes Art and Why?Part Six - Conclusion; 16. How Art Works.Notes; References; Index.

This book is a must read for everyone interested in the perception of art. It fulfills the highest scientific standards regarding the content and reasoning of the author. As I am doing research in the field of empirical aesthetics myself I can confirm that the content is up to date and nearly exhaustive. With her incredibly good style of writing Ellen Winners translates heavily written journal articles in a clear and understandable English. It is a pleasure to follow her discovering the mysteries of art perception. The book doesn’t require any prior knowledge of psychology. Therefore I can recommend this to anyone interested in art.

If you're looking for an up to date and comprehensive book on the psychology of art production and reception, this is it. Winner's book is enlightening and delightful to read. It balances serious scientific methods and findings with an easy-to-read style. The summaries at the end of each chapter are very helpful.