The Psychology of Visual Art Eye, Brain and Art

Introduction

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution came to the fore in the previous two chapters during discussions of aesthetic preference. Humans may have evolved a preference for certain landscape features in art such as mystery and vantage points because these features are important for survival in a natural environment. Similarly, humans may have evolved a preference for certain images because their statistical and organisational properties afford the most efficient neural processing. This final chapter discusses the relevance of evolutionary theory to two general but important questions about visual art, namely the perennial artistic fascination with certain aspects of the human form and the enduring human compulsion to create works of art. Beforehand, it will be useful to reiterate some salient features of evolutionary theory and to introduce the concept of a ‘fitness indicator’ because it is an essential component of the evolutionary theory of art.

The theory of evolution underpins modern biological science. It proposes that all persistent, universal human traits, including those which relate to art, should be considered as evolved adaptations. According to Darwin’s theory, new traits arise initially by chance due to genetic mutations during reproduction. If a specific trait confers an advantage on a particular individual by enhancing his or her chances of survival and reproduction, then it is passed on to that individual’s offspring who, in turn, passes it on to his or her own offspring. Conversely, traits that do not confer an advantage do not become established in the gene pool. Over generations, adaptive traits can become established across an entire population, even if they enhance survival rates by only a tiny amount. The eye itself is a good example. Primitive sensitivity to light should confer an advantage on any organism that depends on sunlight for energy, leading to more successful transmission of the genes coding for light sensitivity. Sensitivity to ambient illumination, therefore, is a universal adaptation found in even the simplest organisms. Complex mobile organisms have evolved sophisticated light-sensing organs, which typically take the form of a pit or enclosed chamber that forms an image of the outside world on a sheet of light-sensitive cells. Images are extremely useful for performing complex tasks such as visual navigation and recognition, provided that the organism possesses a brain with sufficient processing capacity.