Beauty: do you need to rediscover it?

The spirit of our time does not seem to value beauty more.

Prince Charles was speaking with the Royal Institute of British Architects on the occasion of its 150th anniversary about the proposed expansion of the National Gallery.

“What is proposed is like a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a very dear and elegant friend.“(Prince of Wales)

He had seen much of British architecture as sterile and ugly.

Is this still true? And do we need to rediscover the beauty that surrounds us?

Defining beauty

When we see something beautiful, its beauty is subjectively felt. However, the concept of beauty and ugliness is elusive and difficult to put into words and define. Perhaps this is due to individual differences in our appreciation of it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What seems beautiful to one person, to another merely sentimental. One attractive, the other repulsive.

It has been said that beauty has to do with appreciating harmony, balance and rhythm. It captures our attention, satisfying and elevating the mind.

It is not the objects represented by art that define whether something is beautiful or ugly. Instead, it’s the way the object is treated that makes it arguably inspiring.

The spiritual philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg suggests that what awakens our feeling that a human face is beautiful is not the face itself, but the affection that shines on it. It is the spiritual within the natural that awakens our affections, not the natural alone.

“The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode, but the true beauty of a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the affection that she lovingly gives; the passion that she shows. The beauty of a woman grows over the years.“(Audrey Hepburn)

Beauty can also occur even in suffering.

“Even in some of the most painful moments that I have witnessed as a doctor, I find a sense of beauty … That our brains are wired to register another person’s pain, to want to be moved by it and do something about it, is deeply encouraging. ” (Doctor-poet Rafael Campo)

Creative art

Philosopher Roger Scruton points out that between 1750 and 1930 the goal of art or music was beauty. People saw beauty as valuable as truth and goodness. Then, in the 20th century, it stopped being important. Later, many artists tried to disturb, scandalize and break moral taboos. The first of these was Marcel Duchamp, for example, his installation of a urinal. It was not beauty, but originality, irony, and other intellectual ideas that they focused on. This is what won the awards regardless of the moral cost.

The art world now believes that those who seek beauty in art are simply out of touch with modern realities. Since the world is disturbing, art should also be disturbing. However, I would suggest that what is shocking the first time is boring and empty when repeated.

“If the world is so ugly, what’s the point of making it even uglier with ugly music? … I’ve tried to make it sound as beautiful as I can. Otherwise what’s the point …? Modern world is ugly … you can turn on the TV and listen to the news. But I think most people go to concerts because they want to hear beautiful music. Music full of melodies that you can hum or sing. Music that speaks to the heart Music who wants to make you smile, cry or dance. (Alma Deutscher, 12-year-old concert / pianist)

If there are still artists who create beautiful art objects, I suspect that, like any good news in the newspapers, they are not in the headlines.

Awakening to the spiritual

In addition to much of our contemporary art and built environment, can we also detect a grinding lack of attractiveness, not to mention self-centeredness and offense, that is now entering the language and manners displayed in our media? As if beauty no longer has a real place in our lives.

So when we find ourselves in the soup of negativity, do we take time to open up to beauty?

“What is this life if, full of care,

We don’t have time to stop and look. (William Henry Davies)

Effect on us of cultural change

I wonder if by losing beauty we are also losing something else. Something that I would describe as a deeper perception of what is good and innocent in life.

Scruton suggests that living without this deeper insight is like living in a spiritual desert. He argues that artists of the past were aware that life was full of chaos and suffering. But they had a remedy for this and the remedy was beauty. Consider that the beautiful work of art brings comfort in pain and affirmation in joy. It shows that human life is worthwhile.

Beauty: a reminder of transcendent reality

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But is beauty just a subjective thing? Does it also have an objective reality?

Perhaps we need to revisit the wisdom of the ancients. According to Plato, beauty, like justice and goodness, is an entity that exists eternally. He said that it exists eternally, regardless of changing conceptions and social circumstances. This would mean that beauty has existed even when no one was around to notice it.

It takes millions of years for light to travel the great distance to reach our telescopes. So now we see the beauty of the stars as they were before human beings existed.

I would say that beauty is something that deep down has the reality of innocence: the innocence of absolute Love.

“Beauty is the truth, the truth is beauty, that’s all

You know on earth, and all you need to know. “(John Keats, Ode in a Greek urn)