Mākslas jomas ekspertu un ikdienas mākslas pieredze un komunikācija
Art Experience and Communication of Experts and Non-Experts

Summary/Abstract: In the last few years researchers have focused on studying the differences in art cognition between art experts and non-experts. In particular, the impact of expertise on the cognitive processes has been explored. In the author's MA thesis 'The Role of Social Identity in Experts' and Non-Experts' Art Experience and Communication' experts' and non-experts' art cognition has been analyzed in relation to the aspects of the self and social identity of the individual. Additionally the role of sociocultural resources is analyzed. This paper is a glimpse into the core results of the MA thesis. In particular the theoretical framework, methodology, obtained results, discussion, conclusions, and further research directions are described. Art experience includes art evaluation. The present study focuses on three evaluative dimensions: bad-good, emotional significance and preference. Another core process of art cognition is communication; it is a part of art experience and is operationalized as verbalization within the framework of the present study. The theoretical framework of the current study is based on the theories of empirical aesthetics, social cognition, distributed cognition, extended mind, and categorization. By connecting these theoretical perspectives art cognition is considered as a socially distributed process which is processed in an extended cognitive system that, in its turn, is constituted by the individual or cognitive agent, social values, and sociocultural resources, i.e., other individuals, cultural artifacts (e.g., artworks), social institutions (i.e., institutions of art education, museums, galleries, exhibitions). At the macro level, the art cognition is studied by conducting representative online survey of the population of Latvia. At the micro level the differences of art experts and non-experts are explored in respect to art experience and communication. For this purpose several online experimental tasks were conducted. Data were analyzed in using quantitative content analysis and nonparametric statistical methods. Obtained results indicate that the recognition of an artwork (i.e., ability to recall or recognize an artwork from memory), is related to the following aspects of the individual: age, gender, place of residence, level of education, knowledge and experiential background. However, the research reveals that recognition of artworks is not related to the nationality of a subject. The results indicate a close relation between the evaluations of emotional significance and aesthetic dimension like-dislike. The relation between the evaluations can be seen in both expert and non-expert groups but in non-expert group the relation is stronger. In addition to the recognition, other factors that affect the evaluations of aesthetic and emotional significance have been studied as well. The most important factor that affects these evaluations is the overall interest about art.

• Details
• Contents