Aesthetic Reasoning

First, find an object THAT YOU HAVE PHYSICALLY ENCOUNTERED (do not use things from online) that you do not normally consider art, or even aesthetically valuable. Examine the object for a while, and then write out a brief description of the object (if necessary, take a picture of the object and include that with your assignment, pasting the picture into your document). Second, indicate (in approximately one paragraph) why you normally would not consider the object art or aesthetically valuable. Next, try to examine the object in a new way, using the principles of aesthetic reasoning. Give an argument, which integrates facts about the object and the aesthetic principles, for why someone could consider the object art or aesthetically valuable. The aesthetic principles you use must be true of the object. You must choose to use either functionalist principles or formalism, but NOT BOTH since functionalism and formalism are incompatible