Effects of Touching Sculptures on the Artistic Appreciation of Collative Emotional/Perceptual Properties

Abstract

The relationship between physical stimulus and perception is fundamental to understand aesthetic appreciation. This study aimed to examine how the properties of sculptures influence their artistic appreciation. Thirteen participants touched altered sculptures from the series Bichos de Lygia Clark. Participants indicated their perceptions for each stimulus using Semantic Differential Scales (7-point Likert scale): Complexity, Irregularity, Amount of pieces, Interest and Pleasingness. The duration of manipulation was recorded. The results showed that sculptures perceived as having more pieces were the ones judged to have a high level of Complexity and Irregularity. Sculptures evaluated as demonstrating a high level of Complexity and Irregularity were considered more interesting, although less pleasant. Participants tended to spend more time exploring the more complex sculptures. The results indicate that the amount of informational content, represented by the amount of pieces present in the sculpture, can influence the way it is perceived and affect its hedonic value.

The complexity of an artwork affects the subjective perception of time and bimanual motor activity performed in the presence and absence of music of the patients with Parkinson\'s disease

“…According to the collative properties of stimuli (see Berlyne, 1963, for more), the number of pieces in the stimuli can configure complexity to them. The attribution of complexity level of the stimuli was confirmed by participant judges in a previous study (Bueno et al, 2020).…”

“…In the field of artistic appreciation, isolated properties of stimuli affect perceptual mechanisms (Berlyne, 1958(Berlyne, , 1963(Berlyne, , 1974Bueno et al, 2020). In the study by Bueno et al (2020), modified sculptures were manipulate by healthy participants.…”

“…In the field of artistic appreciation, isolated properties of stimuli affect perceptual mechanisms (Berlyne, 1958(Berlyne, , 1963(Berlyne, , 1974Bueno et al, 2020). In the study by Bueno et al (2020), modified sculptures were manipulate by healthy participants. The result showed that stimuli judged to have a greater number of pieces were also evaluated as presenting high levels of complexity, and stimuli judged to have a higher level of complexity were considered more interesting.…”