**2.2. Aesthetics in theory formation: the paradoxical but significant interplay between beauty and ugliness**

Ugliness should be viewed as an important ingredient of aesthetics. In the *Republic*, Plato maintained that ugliness (understood as a lack of harmony) was the opposite of the goodness

**Figure 5.** The Graces and Cupido by Thorvaldsen. Permission: Thorvaldsen Museum, Copenhagen, In Greco-Roman mythology, the three graces belong to the inner circle of Venus, the goddess of Love. As the classical artists pose standing close together and embracing—they were supposed to express giving, receiving and returning; but they could also be understood to symbolise the seasons. B. Jørnæs Undated: 87. Denmark. Photos: D.J. Louw.

painting, weaving, embroidery, architecture, the making of furniture; and also in the human frame and in all the works of nature: in all these grace and seemliness may be present or

**Figure 4.** The image from an ancient Greek statue in the classical Polycleitus-style (around 450 BC) suggests grace, harmony, control, inherent integrity and dignified courage. Within the whole of embodiment, male sexual identity

**Figure 3.** The statue of the priest Ahmose and his mother, 18th Dynasty 1490–1499 BC, is quite remarkable. In Egyptian anthropology, the soul was viewed as an intrinsic part of human embodiment. Often in Egyptian sculptures, it seems as if the face was emotionless. This is not the case here. The figures represent complacent intimacy and projects soulfulness. It could be described as an excellent example of embodied aesthetics. One can even 'see' on their faces what they are

thinking: contentment and fulfilment. Permission: National Museum, Copenhagen; photo: D.J. Louw.

With reference to the interplay between grace, the naked human body and aesthetics, the so-

The following remark by Plato, underlines the fact that in Hellenistic art, nudity was removed from the idea of promiscuity. Greek art and sculptures rather were attempts to combine nudity with nobility, grace and profound wisdom. 'Rather we must seek those craftsmen

called *Three Graces* in ancient art has become a classic indeed (**Figure 5**).

becomes 'whole'. Permission: Royal Cast Museum, Copenhagen; photo: D.J. Louw.

whose instinct guides them to whatsoever is lovely and gracious' [16] (**Figure 6**).

absent' [15].

46 Perception of Beauty

**Figure 6.** The interplay between womanhood and the creation of the beauty of life. Grace and seemliness of form and movement should complete gentleness. Sculpture in fountain, inner courtyard. Permission: NY Carlsberg Glyptotek founded by Carl Jacobsen. Copenhagen, Denmark; photo: D.J. Louw.

of the soul [17]. He described ugliness as an aesthetic quality in its capacity to instil feelings of intense emotion, ultimately creating a pleasurable experience.

Ugly is not necessarily the opposite of beauty or merely the absence of form, asymmetry, disharmony, disfigurement and deformation or even the various forms of the repugnant (the ungainly, death and the void, the horrendous, the vacuous, the sickening, the felonious, the spectral, the demoniac, the witchlike and the satanic) [18].3 Ugliness rather frames beauty within the context of the shadow side of life. As such ugliness is an aesthetic category and a kind of perception that wrestles with the danger of corruption that can destroy a sense of dignity and justice. Instead of wholeness and integrity, ugliness as a spiritual category points in the direction of disintegration and disorientation rather than merely formlessness. According to Umberto Eco, all the synonyms for 'ugly' contain a reaction of disgust if not violent repulsion, horror or fear [18]: 'In truth, in the course of our history, we ought to distinguish between manifestations of ugliness in itself (excrement, decomposing carrion, or someone covered with the sores who gives off a nauseating stench) from those of formal ugliness, understood as lack of equilibrium in the organic relationship between the parts of a whole' [19]. Ugliness thus helps to demarcate beauty within the interplay between what is significant for the healing of life and what is not.

Aesthetics4 implies more than the 'beautiful'; it indicates an intensified awareness that stirs imaginative imaging and poetic creativity. Aesthetics5 interpenetrates reality and goes beyond or beneath the surface of things by means of creative imagination. As a hermeneutical event, aesthetics interprets reality from the perspective of creative reshaping and illuminative imaging. The fact that a work of art has some aesthetic intent or effect does not mean that the image is necessarily attractive to the eye of every viewer. 'Remember that *aesthetic* refers to heightened sensory awareness. It is the opposite of *anaesthetic*—that is, a dulling or loss of consciousness—not the opposite of ugly' [22].

The concept of aesthetics is slippery for the human mind; it evades any attempt to capture or define its meaning in rational categories. However, one can say that aesthetic experiences operate within the tension between sensual encounters/subjective attraction (being struck by….) and creative imaging; it coincides with the human attempt to make a qualitative assessment regarding the value, meaning and significance of phenomena observed. It refers to a kind of qualitative scrutiny within the act of evaluative decoding.

Schulte-Susse [23] links aesthetics with the theory of perspective (perspectivism). The theory of perspective addresses the question of how to represent a three-dimensional object on a two-dimensional surface, or how to represent a three-dimensional object via a material form or sculpture, so that the representation and image of the object, the idea within the object, corresponds with the proportions of the immediacy with the act of seeing, feeling and experienc-

<sup>3&</sup>quot;Too much to allow us to carry on saying that ugliness is merely the opposite of beauty understood as harmony, proportion, or integrity" [18].

<sup>4</sup> Campbell and Cilliers [20] points out that aesthetics is a multidimensional concept which at least includes concepts such as judgement of beauty, experiences of sensibility, evaluative observation, and imagination (anticipation and transformation). The concept has become attenuated in most discourses.

<sup>5</sup> Grözinger [21] describes aesthetic experience as the practical theological endeavour which is in search of those corresponding experiences (*Entsprechung*) between the content and form of the Christian faith. Aesthetics describes a dialectic movement between presentation and withdrawal/concealment, between the *form* of the revelation and the *Being* of God.

ing. Aesthetics can thus be associated with the intention and value assessment of the subject in relationship with the viewed or observed object.

of the soul [17]. He described ugliness as an aesthetic quality in its capacity to instil feelings of

Ugly is not necessarily the opposite of beauty or merely the absence of form, asymmetry, disharmony, disfigurement and deformation or even the various forms of the repugnant (the ungainly, death and the void, the horrendous, the vacuous, the sickening, the felonious, the

the context of the shadow side of life. As such ugliness is an aesthetic category and a kind of perception that wrestles with the danger of corruption that can destroy a sense of dignity and justice. Instead of wholeness and integrity, ugliness as a spiritual category points in the direction of disintegration and disorientation rather than merely formlessness. According to Umberto Eco, all the synonyms for 'ugly' contain a reaction of disgust if not violent repulsion, horror or fear [18]: 'In truth, in the course of our history, we ought to distinguish between manifestations of ugliness in itself (excrement, decomposing carrion, or someone covered with the sores who gives off a nauseating stench) from those of formal ugliness, understood as lack of equilibrium in the organic relationship between the parts of a whole' [19]. Ugliness thus helps to demarcate beauty within the interplay between what is significant for the healing of life and what is not.

implies more than the 'beautiful'; it indicates an intensified awareness that

beyond or beneath the surface of things by means of creative imagination. As a hermeneutical event, aesthetics interprets reality from the perspective of creative reshaping and illuminative imaging. The fact that a work of art has some aesthetic intent or effect does not mean that the image is necessarily attractive to the eye of every viewer. 'Remember that *aesthetic* refers to heightened sensory awareness. It is the opposite of *anaesthetic*—that is, a dulling or loss of

The concept of aesthetics is slippery for the human mind; it evades any attempt to capture or define its meaning in rational categories. However, one can say that aesthetic experiences operate within the tension between sensual encounters/subjective attraction (being struck by….) and creative imaging; it coincides with the human attempt to make a qualitative assessment regarding the value, meaning and significance of phenomena observed. It refers to a

Schulte-Susse [23] links aesthetics with the theory of perspective (perspectivism). The theory of perspective addresses the question of how to represent a three-dimensional object on a two-dimensional surface, or how to represent a three-dimensional object via a material form or sculpture, so that the representation and image of the object, the idea within the object, corresponds with the proportions of the immediacy with the act of seeing, feeling and experienc-

3"Too much to allow us to carry on saying that ugliness is merely the opposite of beauty understood as harmony, propor-

Campbell and Cilliers [20] points out that aesthetics is a multidimensional concept which at least includes concepts such as judgement of beauty, experiences of sensibility, evaluative observation, and imagination (anticipation and transfor-

Grözinger [21] describes aesthetic experience as the practical theological endeavour which is in search of those corresponding experiences (*Entsprechung*) between the content and form of the Christian faith. Aesthetics describes a dialectic movement between presentation and withdrawal/concealment, between the *form* of the revelation and the *Being* of God.

Ugliness rather frames beauty within

interpenetrates reality and goes

intense emotion, ultimately creating a pleasurable experience.

spectral, the demoniac, the witchlike and the satanic) [18].3

stirs imaginative imaging and poetic creativity. Aesthetics5

kind of qualitative scrutiny within the act of evaluative decoding.

consciousness—not the opposite of ugly' [22].

mation). The concept has become attenuated in most discourses.

Aesthetics4

48 Perception of Beauty

tion, or integrity" [18].

4

5

Reiner Matzker [24] relates aesthetics to the act of mediation within the tension between subject (impression and interpretation) and object or the implicit idea as related to an object or something perceived and observed. To mediate always implies an act of signifying, some *thing* is signified [25]. Mediation operates within the connections between form (*eidos*; essence, meaning) and matter (*hýle*; ontic dimension). In the act of mediation and representation, the projection of what is observed and seen implies virtuosity: skill, competence and know-how, i.e. artistic proficiency.

The mediatory function of a medium is to communicate, to inform, to disclose and to make something knowable. Aesthetics becomes an instrument (medium), an image (means) about some-thing (content). It transcends its own limitations in the direction of signification. In this regard, aesthetics implies acts of symbolisation (to symbolise, from the Greek *symbálein* = to link to halves) and processes of meaning making [25]. Aesthetics then expands the horizon of interpretation of human beings; it creates a grammar of mediation.

In aesthetics, there is a constant interplay between reality, image and significance, and particularly in the sense that through mediation aesthetics become the attempt to represent 'some thing'. This representation presupposes a kind of competence or skill that one can call 'art'. Through aesthetics, a value is attached to the product which invites the viewer to linger and to ponder, to grasp the 'some thing'. This moment of significant articulation implies an act of evaluation that one can call 'mediation as an act of beautification'; the mediation signifies the product as a 'piece of art' [26]. In the act of mediation, the viewer assigns artistic significance to the object. As a piece of art, the object invites the viewer to attribute 'meaning'; to imitate (Plato: art as *mimesis*) the image; to reveal and to make apparent (Aristotle: art as hermeneutics).

The point in my argument thus far is that the naked human body is not per se ugly. Ugliness is a qualitative category within the interplay between beauty and the struggle to 'save' life from corruption and abusive exploitation. Even bodily deformation should not be enough reason to degrade the body to a lower degree of repulsiveness. The body entails more than sensuality and should not be viewed as merely a lust object to be exploited for sexual gratification. The body should indeed be reframed as an icon of compassionate intimacy.
