Club Calendar

It has been said that there are two criteria that determine the quality of a culture, that define civilisation, they are art and science. Traditionally the study of art has been referred to as aesthetics, and traditionally aesthetics has been considered a branch of philosophy, not a branch of science.

The predominant ‘science’ that can even pretend to claim aesthetics as legitimate subject matter is psychology, for art is created by and appreciated by human beings. Everything from the physiology of our senses to the nature of our personalities defines and delimits our experience of art. There is hardly a branch of psychology that doesn’t (at least in theory) have some relevance to understanding art, for art is a distinctly human activity that engages us on every level: physical, cognitive and emotional.

Based on his research and teaching, George Erdos will explore aspects of the creative process, the artwork itself, the aesthetic experience, and the nature of the audience. Predominantly using paintings as examples, he will pose a number of open questions for which we are still searching for valid answers.