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B EYO N D A N T H ROP OC E NT RI C ESTH E T I C S: “ E VOLU T I ON” Miguel Mesa. Abril 2018 Interdisciplinary artist and Computer Systems engineer with specialization in composition and new media. His concerns intersect with social, cultural and natural phenomena and sometimes the same supports or artistic forms. Sound is a determining material in his work. He has exhibited in Mexico and several countries abroad.
In the 1960s, when NASA was wondering how to explore extraterrestrial life, scientist James Lovelock suggested that, before gazing into space, we should first observe the planet Earth from the outside, in order to understand how it is possible to perceive life at a distance. Once we have done this, we can turn our eyes to space again. Lovelock’s idea is fascinating. It is the subject explored in this essay: how to widen our view in order to broaden the panorama ―to see it de-anthropocentrically― and to observe from that vantage point what can be seen when we take ourselves, so to speak, out of the picture. In this way, we can reflect on the esthetic expressions of non-human beings: animal, plants, fungi, minerals, etc. First of all, it is worthwhile making a few brief observations about the origin and significance of the term “esthetic.” Introduced in 1735 by Alexander Baumgarten, in his Philosophical Reflections on Poetry, it refers to the notion of aisthesis (sensation), that is, of knowledge through sense perception. Baumgarten established that the notion of beauty is not a clear and distinct idea as in the case of mental ideas but rather a confused one. We may add that it is also in part unconscious. The style is the man (“Le style est le homme même”), said Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. But esthetics are everywhere, and not just in manmade things.
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When connecting the notion of the “esthetic” with living beings, it is indispensable to consider the notion of evolutionary esthetics proposed by Darwin, and his idea that, of all the animals, birds appear to be the most esthetic. According to Darwin, the colors and textures manifest in different beings ― whose appearance depends solely on their chemical or physical composition― were pre-esthetic manifestations. He also
