The Aesthetic Education Value of Thematic Art Creation

Thematic art creation is a product of a complex social,historical,and cultural context,and it fills an important position in the development of modern and contemporary Chinese art history.Since the 21st century,with the introduction and implementation of a series of national major thematic art creation projects,thematic art creation has gradually moved from a marginal position in art history to a core area,becoming a visual narrative method with independent aesthetic value.Moving towards cultural consciousness and carrying cultural self-confidence,thematic art creation requires the guidance,standardization,and support of related art theories.The lack and absence of theoretical research restricts the development of thematic art creation.This study combs through the research results and literature materials of thematic art creation since the new century as well as studies the aesthetic education value of thematic art creation image narration.

Contemporary myth and its aesthetic consciousness

Pragmatic rationality and scientific and technological developments in modem society have jointly put an end to classical myth and consigned it to the historical museum of the spiritual culture. However, mythical thinking and consciousness are synchronically hidden in our psychological structures and still exert an important influence on civilizations and cultures. In the modem and postmodem historical and cultural context, myth hides in our spiritual and cultural activities in various altered forms. Having evolved into a mythic form in the contemporary sense, it continues to play a powerful psychological role and to act as a midwife of conscious activities and forms. Contemporary myth typically comprises science myth, consumption myth and hero myth. It has inherited the symbols and structures of traditional myth, but with some developments and variations; in particular, by means of science and technology, it has acquired broader and richer social ingredients and swift and intensive modes of transmission, producing a widespread and far-reaching influence on various aspects of society.

Evocation (Gan-Xing) as a Core Proposition in the Aesthetics of the Wei and Jin Dynasties: An Analysis of the Rhapsodies on Thoughts (Gan-Fu)

The rhapsodies on the mind (xin-fu) is a major category of the rhapsody (fu) genre during the Wei and Jin dynasties. Those describing human sentimental psychology are known as the rhapsodies on thoughts (gan-fu). The rhapsodies on thoughts from this period embody a special proposition on how human aesthetic experience arises, which is termed as evocation (gan-xing). Evocation involves two dimensions: responding to objects (gan-wu) and responding to seasons (gan-shi). Together, they form the basic framework or mechanism that generates the abstract aesthetic experience in the rhapsodies on thoughts. More specifically, the rhapsodies on thoughts reveal five types of aesthetic experience generated: (1) aesthetic emotions triggered by natural sights;(2) philosophical insights triggered by natural sights;(3) aesthetic emotions triggered by social environments;(4) aesthetic experience triggered by natural sights and social environments;and (5) anti-evocation experience, namely an aesthetic response to the natural world triggered by specific scenes in life. These five evocation models broadly cover the aesthetic experience generated by the rhapsodies on thoughts from this period. First and foremost, evocation reveals the internal mechanism that generates aesthetic experience—external things evoke one’s inner feelings, thus creating aesthetic appreciation. Furthermore, it uncovers the normative significance of natural aesthetic appreciation as the prerequisite for artistic aesthetic appreciation: People are first moved by external objects in the realm of natural aesthetic appreciation before consciously developing the urge to express their emotions or feelings through natural images in the realm of artistic aesthetics. The rise of evocation, originating from the rhapsodies on thoughts of the Wei and Jin dynasties, signifies that Chinese aesthetic consciousness was attained during this period in relation to the mechanism of generating aesthetic experiences.