S. Zeki and Neuroaesthetics – A Possible Framework to Objectify Aesthetics

This article surveys the research and findings of neuroaesthetics, a subfield of neurology and empirical aesthetics. The main motivation for this line of research, which dates back to 2002 and probably even earlier, is a scientific study of the visual information processed by a human brain that is connected to or influenced by an aesthetic judgment. We discuss here mainly the work of S. Zeki, considered by many the founder of neuroaesthetics. We argue that the active nature of the process of seeing, and its structured and modular character, has its pendant in the structure of visual art – which is created and evaluated by brain. Thus an inquiry into the structure of the visual brain can provide information on the nature of visual art. This is in accordance with our “structuralist approach” to study of art, and can in a way be considered as an extension and a critique of Zeki’s position.