Embodiment and the Aesthetic Experience of Images

In this chapter, the authors summarize their research in the experimental aesthetics of visual art and cinema, motivated by the following assumptions: (1) vision is more complex than the mere activation of the “visual brain”; (2) our visual experience of the world is the outcome of multimodal integration processes, with the motor system as key player; (3) aesthetic experience must be framed within the broader notion of intersubjectivity, as artworks are mediators of the relationship between the subjectivities of artists/creators and beholders; and (4) empathy is an important ingredient of our response to works of art. Capitalizing on the results of their research, one privileging embodiment and the performative quality of perception and cognition, preliminary suggestions for a future research agenda are outlined. Embodied simulation, a model of perception and cognition, can provide a new take on these issues, fostering a newly based dialogue between neuroscience and the humanities.