Paleoanthropsychobiological is a term coined by Ellen Dissanayake meaning that art includes human history as well as human societies and that art itself is a natural psychological need and is such a natural trait of the human species.
When Dissanayake mentioned the phrase “make special” she was referring to the natural ability humans have to view things of high importance, or with an outcome that is significant as special. More specifically the intuitive knowledge that “something that is “special” is different from the mundane, the everyday, the ordinary” (Dissanayake 22), which she claims is an ability that animals have that aids in survival. The beginning of a behavior of art Dissanayake offers is the ability to recognize that something is special as well as be able to be able to make something special.
In Art for Life’s Sake by Ellen Dissanayake she identifies a variety of different theories, movements and periods of art in Western European history. In the medieval times art was “in the service of religion, as they have always been, but were not regarded “aesthetically,” if this means separately from their revelation of the Divine” (Dissanayake 16), meaning the look of the piece of art was a lower priority than the religious significance of the artwork. During the Renaissance period the art became less religiously focused and transitioned to “man-centered concerns, but their works continued to portray a recognizable world” (Dissanayake 16), which meant that the art accurately represented the subject matter whether it is ideal or not. During the eighteenth century the “modernity” trend arose bringing with this trend “was a subject that came to be called “aesthetics”- a concern with elucidating principles such as taste and beauty that govern all the arts and indeed make them not simply paintings or statues but examples of (fine) art” (Dissanayake 17). This was a time when art reached a level of such appreciation that it was believed that a certain attitude was required so that the art could be appreciated separate from a person’s personal, social and religious beliefs.
Excellent response to the essay. In particular it is very evident in your response the trend of thought in Western European culture. How each period involved a kind of moving or shifting of values and ideals either as an expansion or a rejection of what came before.