Haptic Aesthetics and Bodily Properties of Ori Gersht’s Digital Art: A Behavioral and Eye-Tracking Study
Experimental aesthetics has shed light on the involvement of pre-motor areas in the perception of abstract art. However, the contribution of texture perception to aesthetic experience is still understudied. We hypothesized that digital screen-based art, despite its immateriality, might suggest poten...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02520/full |
| _version_ | 1818250426108084224 |
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| author | Marta Calbi Hava Aldouby Ori Gersht Nunzio Langiulli Vittorio Gallese Vittorio Gallese Maria Alessandra Umiltà Maria Alessandra Umiltà |
| author_facet | Marta Calbi Hava Aldouby Ori Gersht Nunzio Langiulli Vittorio Gallese Vittorio Gallese Maria Alessandra Umiltà Maria Alessandra Umiltà |
| author_sort | Marta Calbi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Experimental aesthetics has shed light on the involvement of pre-motor areas in the perception of abstract art. However, the contribution of texture perception to aesthetic experience is still understudied. We hypothesized that digital screen-based art, despite its immateriality, might suggest potential sensorimotor stimulation. Original born-digital works of art were selected and manipulated by the artist himself. Five behavioral parameters: Beauty, Liking, Touch, Proximity, and Movement, were investigated under four experimental conditions: Resolution (high/low), and Magnitude (Entire image/detail). These were expected to modulate the quantity of material and textural information afforded by the image. While the Detail condition afforded less content-related information, our results show that it augmented the image’s haptic appeal. High Resolution improved the haptic and aesthetic properties of the images. Furthermore, aesthetic ratings positively correlated with sensorimotor ratings. Our results demonstrate a strict relation between the aesthetic and sensorimotor/haptic qualities of the images, empirically establishing a relationship between beholders’ bodily involvement and their aesthetic judgment of visual works of art. In addition, we found that beholders’ oculomotor behavior is selectively modulated by the perceptual manipulations being performed. The eye-tracking results indicate that the observation of the Entire, original images is the only condition in which the latency of the first fixation is shorter when participants gaze to the left side of the images. These results thus demonstrate the existence of a left-side bias during the observation of digital works of art, in particular, while participants are observing their original version. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T15:52:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-45e012b7082d4f4eb1ac186bf9a7414e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T15:52:12Z |
| publishDate | 2019-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-45e012b7082d4f4eb1ac186bf9a7414e2022-12-22T00:19:34ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782019-11-011010.3389/fpsyg.2019.02520490645Haptic Aesthetics and Bodily Properties of Ori Gersht’s Digital Art: A Behavioral and Eye-Tracking StudyMarta Calbi0Hava Aldouby1Ori Gersht2Nunzio Langiulli3Vittorio Gallese4Vittorio Gallese5Maria Alessandra Umiltà6Maria Alessandra Umiltà7Unit of Neuroscience, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, ItalyDepartment of Literature, Language, and the Arts, The Open University of Israel, Ra’anana, IsraelDepartment of Photography, University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, United KingdomUnit of Neuroscience, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, ItalyUnit of Neuroscience, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, ItalyDepartment of Art History Columbia University, Italian Academy for Advanced Studies, Columbia University, New York, NY, United StatesDepartment of Art History Columbia University, Italian Academy for Advanced Studies, Columbia University, New York, NY, United StatesDepartment of Food and Drug, University of Parma, Parma, ItalyExperimental aesthetics has shed light on the involvement of pre-motor areas in the perception of abstract art. However, the contribution of texture perception to aesthetic experience is still understudied. We hypothesized that digital screen-based art, despite its immateriality, might suggest potential sensorimotor stimulation. Original born-digital works of art were selected and manipulated by the artist himself. Five behavioral parameters: Beauty, Liking, Touch, Proximity, and Movement, were investigated under four experimental conditions: Resolution (high/low), and Magnitude (Entire image/detail). These were expected to modulate the quantity of material and textural information afforded by the image. While the Detail condition afforded less content-related information, our results show that it augmented the image’s haptic appeal. High Resolution improved the haptic and aesthetic properties of the images. Furthermore, aesthetic ratings positively correlated with sensorimotor ratings. Our results demonstrate a strict relation between the aesthetic and sensorimotor/haptic qualities of the images, empirically establishing a relationship between beholders’ bodily involvement and their aesthetic judgment of visual works of art. In addition, we found that beholders’ oculomotor behavior is selectively modulated by the perceptual manipulations being performed. The eye-tracking results indicate that the observation of the Entire, original images is the only condition in which the latency of the first fixation is shorter when participants gaze to the left side of the images. These results thus demonstrate the existence of a left-side bias during the observation of digital works of art, in particular, while participants are observing their original version.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02520/fullaestheticsdigital artsensorimotorbehavioraleye-tracking |
| spellingShingle | Marta Calbi Hava Aldouby Ori Gersht Nunzio Langiulli Vittorio Gallese Vittorio Gallese Maria Alessandra Umiltà Maria Alessandra Umiltà Haptic Aesthetics and Bodily Properties of Ori Gersht’s Digital Art: A Behavioral and Eye-Tracking Study Frontiers in Psychology aesthetics digital art sensorimotor behavioral eye-tracking |
| title | Haptic Aesthetics and Bodily Properties of Ori Gersht’s Digital Art: A Behavioral and Eye-Tracking Study |
| title_full | Haptic Aesthetics and Bodily Properties of Ori Gersht’s Digital Art: A Behavioral and Eye-Tracking Study |
| title_fullStr | Haptic Aesthetics and Bodily Properties of Ori Gersht’s Digital Art: A Behavioral and Eye-Tracking Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Haptic Aesthetics and Bodily Properties of Ori Gersht’s Digital Art: A Behavioral and Eye-Tracking Study |
| title_short | Haptic Aesthetics and Bodily Properties of Ori Gersht’s Digital Art: A Behavioral and Eye-Tracking Study |
| title_sort | haptic aesthetics and bodily properties of ori gersht s digital art a behavioral and eye tracking study |
| topic | aesthetics digital art sensorimotor behavioral eye-tracking |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02520/full |
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