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Ideas

Beauty and aesthetics

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The African American singer and pianist Nina Simone is pictured alone, singing against a spotlight that resembles a moon in the darkness. She has her eyes closed.

Emerging therapies

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Could that tingle down the spine be a way to rediscover joy?

In new research, scientists have looked into the potential benefits of giving people with depression the aesthetic chills

by Shayla Love

A person in a witch hat observes a colourful, abstract painting featuring multiple characters, including a central nude figure, in a museum.

Beauty and aesthetics

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Why art seems more beautiful when you can see yourself in it

Research suggests that people find artworks more aesthetically pleasing when they’re personally relevant to them in some way

by Matt Huston

Person with closed eyes holding a twig with small red flowers near their nose, appearing to smell it. They wear a ring and have a light purple eyeshadow.

Communication and language

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What is the secret to an evocative smell description?

Many languages have very few odour-related words, so conveying what a scent is like requires knowing your audience

by Giulia Martina

Painting of a man and a woman in period clothing pose inside a room with a chandelier, a convex mirror, and an inscription on the wall behind.

Philosophy of art

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To master the art of close looking, learn to hold time still

Visual literacy is a skillset that’s rarely taught, but it begins with learning how to look – and how to hold time still

by Grace Linden

Abstract painting with vibrant red, yellow, and blue shapes against a dark, textured background. The colours and forms create a striking, dynamic composition.

Artists and art history

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Is the attunement of abstract art and music more than a metaphor?

How does the abstract art of Kandinsky and Klee imitate the meaning and emotion in the music of Shostakovich and Bach?

by Michelle Liu

An elderly man admires a vibrant blue stained glass artwork depicting abstract figures, animals, and scenes.

Beauty and aesthetics

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Beauty is not an ornament to the good life, it is at its heart

Why does the hand want to draw what the eye sees as beautiful? Why do we respond to beauty by creating the beautiful?

by Nick Riggle

Waxwork of a woman in a vintage recording studio behind a microphone. A control panel is in the foreground, and a sign reads “Sing like Crazy with Patsy Cline.”

Music

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They’re playing our song! The philosophical puzzle of cover songs

Can a song be both the original and a copy? Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, and the ‘crazy’ philosophical puzzle of song covers

by P D Magnus

Two people viewing the Mona Lisa painting in an ornate frame, displayed against a dark wall in a gallery.

Beauty and aesthetics

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What happens if we make the Mona Lisa more symmetrical?

The Golden Ratio and symmetry are two universal rules of beauty. The problem is they conflict with one another

by Manil Suri

Black-and-white photo of a pensive woman in a herringbone coat and cloche hat, holding a handkerchief to her lips.

Personality

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Dietrich showed how adopting a persona can reveal one’s true self

Kaloprosopia – the art of crafting a persona, as Marlene Dietrich and David Bowie did – can help us access a truer self

by Sam Mills

A historical painting showing three people, one standing with a fan and two seated, each holding a flower; vibrant clothing and a colourful background.

Artists and art history

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The art of Mughal India is best appreciated with all the senses

Experience the multiple layers of sensory pleasure and meaning conveyed through scented flowers in the art of Mughal India

by Bharti Lalwani & Nicolas Roth

Close-up of two women in colourful gym wear, one wearing a blue watch, the other lifting a dumbbell, both with manicured nails.

The body and physical health

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Body positivity is fixated on beauty – here’s how to fix that

Body positivity is stuck in the shallow. We should move beyond beauty and towards health, pleasure and acceptance

by Céline Leboeuf

A painting of a vibrant garden with red and white flowers, greenery, a two-story house in the background, and two figures near a fence.

Beauty and aesthetics

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Gardening with Heidegger: from mystery to truth, via the earth

The garden as a source of authority beyond human wisdom – on Martin Heidegger’s philosophy of gardening for truth

by F Bailey Norwood