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On the aesthetic illusion.

L Balter1

  • 172570.2672@compuserve.com

Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association
|January 29, 2000
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Artistic illusion, or aesthetic illusion, makes art feel real by tapping into infantile fantasies. This process involves two illusions that manage internal conflict, allowing for the aesthetic experience.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Art Theory
  • Psychoanalysis

Background:

  • Aesthetic illusion, the perception of art's content as reality, arises from infantile fantasies.
  • Mature adults experience intrapsychic conflict due to these fantasies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the mechanisms behind aesthetic illusion.
  • To understand how intrapsychic conflict is managed during aesthetic experiences.

Main Methods:

  • The study analyzes the psychological strategies employed in creating aesthetic illusion.
  • It examines the dynamic interplay between the artwork and the beholder's reality orientation.

Main Results:

  • Two key illusions facilitate aesthetic illusion: personalizing the artist's fantasy and perceiving depicted characters as real.

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  • The second illusion, viewing characters as real, is crucial for establishing the aesthetic illusion.
  • Aesthetic illusion exists in a delicate balance with the beholder's reality.

    • Conclusions:

    • Aesthetic illusion is achieved through specific psychological defenses that manage infantile fantasies and resulting conflicts.
    • The stability of the aesthetic experience depends on the equilibrium between the illusion and the beholder's reality.
    • Disruption of this balance can abolish the aesthetic experience.