LAUSR

Many conceptions of aesthetic experience begin with perception. Gibson (1986) argued that an object is perceived in terms of its affordances, which represent potentials for action—like the handle of a coffee mug inviting a grip. Design principles are built around the idea that objects suggest appropriate behaviors (Withagen et al., 2012). Beyond objects’ pure functionality, the perception of affordances also involves cognitive, emotional, and aesthetic processes, which emerge via interaction (Xenakis and Arnellos, 2013). Art objects like paintings do not show physical affordances, like coffee mugs. However, art is a potent source of other kinds of affordances—aesthetic and social—which involve a communicative process and invite a search for meaning. We interact with art objects with the implicit awareness that they were created by other people. As social creatures, our evolutionary survival depended on an ability to communicate and share meaning with others. This habit carries over into our interactions with works of art. Artworks are perceived as extensions of their creators (Newman et al., 2014). Many factors—including features of artworks, viewers, and physical contexts—impact people’s interaction with artworks, both in the lab and in more ecologically valid settings (Pelowski et al., 2017). Empirical studies have also examined more specific facets of artistic communication. These include the extent to which abstract marks can communicate particular emotions (e.g., Takahashi, 1995), the detection of high-quality abstract paintings with reference to perceived artistic intention (Hawley-Dolan and Winner, 2011), and the influence of contextual information—often wall labels in museums—on aesthetic appreciation (Russell, 2003).