The following is paraphased from Understanding the Arts by John Hospers
-- On Aesthtetic Attidtude...
Aesthetic response comes when we stop, even for a moment to look, to listen, to so savor the qualities of experience beyond what is required in order to fulfill our practical needs. Aesthetics is about a way of coming at things, of being aware in a manor that is not usual. Our aesthetic sense comes into play when our goal-oriented interests are suspended and we stop to dwell on the sight or feel or the world around us.
An aesthetic response happens when we see some quality in a pot that makes us want to pick the piece up, to hold it in our hands, to drink from it.
This level of aesthetic response exists outside of the practical/utilitarian nature of the clay form.
Whether or not the cup is properly designed to drink out of is not an issue at a visual level of aesthetic response. At this level it is color primarily and shape that are important.
This can best be described in a story. In December of 1996, I had the opportunity to visit Ron Meyer's Studio for a Chrsitmas Sale he and Michael Simon were having. As the time for the start of the sale grew nearer and nearer, the crowd got less and less patient. Oh, all the while very cheery and congenial, but not very patient. When Ron and Michael opened the doors the throngs of people rushed forward. Each person had determined what kinds of pots, or whose pots or a general amount they would spend. Each spent the next few minutes grabbing pots, scooping up arm loads of pots and rushing outside to the sunlight to evaluate their treasure. Upon this aesthetic appraisal, some of the bounty would go back on to shelves and some would remain stock-piled for later. Then the second wave, and all would be repeated, this time, with slightly more care given to the pots selected but still the grabbing and then moving away to study the pot's aesthetic richness. The initial concern was not for specific quality or character, but purely for the object. After the object had been, at least temporarily, acquired then its individual aesthetic nature could be explored, evaluted and maybe rejected.
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