Fases de desenvolvimento estético, Abigail Hausen

The Broken Jug, Frank Stella na Colecção Berardo

As fases de desenvolvimento estético, na perspectiva de Abigail Hausen, são cinco e correspondem, de um modo geral, a cinco modos de ver arte, estes relacionados com o quanto se foi exposto a obras de arte. As cinco fases são sequenciais, não é possível saltar uma delas. Por outro lado, e se pela lógica elas se estendem no tempo de aprendizagem, uma pessoa mais velha não está necessariamente numa fase mais avançada. O que se verifica é que a maior parte do público de museus se encontra na primeira e na segunda fases de desenvolvimento estético. O único modo de desenvolver o sentido estético é ao longo do tempo e com exposição à arte.
Parece-me simples e óbvio o suficiente. Esta teoria, de A. Hausen, é uma estruturação, como qualquer outra, mas até ver, a que me faz mais sentido. (texto seguinte daqui)

Fase 1
Accountive viewers are storytellers. Using their senses, memories, and
personal associations, they make concrete observations about the work of
art which get woven into a narrative. Here, judgments are based on what
is known and what is liked. Emotions color their comments, as viewers
seem to enter the work of art and become part of the unfolding narrative.

Fase 2
Constructive viewers set about building a framework for looking at
works of art, using the most logical and accessible tools: their own
perceptions, their knowledge of the natural world, and the values of their
social, moral and conventional world. If the work does not look the way
it is “supposed to”—if craft, skill, technique, hard work, utility, and
function are not evident, or if the subjects seem inappropriate— then this
viewer judges the work to be “weird,” lacking, and of no value. The
viewer’s sense of what is realistic is a standard often applied to determine
value. As emotions begin to go underground, this viewer begins to
distance him or herself from the work of art

Fase 3
Classifying viewers adopt the analytical and critical stance of the art
historian. They want to identify the work as to place, school, style, time
and provenance. They decode the work using their library of facts and
figures that they are ready and eager to expand. This viewer believes that
properly categorized, the work of art’s meaning and message can be
explained and rationalized

Fase 4
Interpretive viewers seek a personal encounter with a work of art.
Exploring the canvas, letting the meaning of the work slowly unfold, they
appreciate the subtleties of line and shape and color. Now, critical skills
are put in the service of feelings and intuitions as these viewers let
underlying meanings of the work—what it symbolizes—emerge. Each
new encounter with a work of art presents a chance for new comparisons,
insights, and experiences. Knowing that the work of art’s identity and
value are subject to reinterpretation, these viewers see their own
processes subject to chance and change

Fase 5
Re-creative viewers, having established a long history of viewing and
reflecting about works of art, now “willingly suspend disbelief.” A
familiar painting is like an old friend who is known intimately, yet full of
surprise, deserving attention on a daily level but also existing on an
elevated plane. As in all important friendships, time is a key ingredient,
allowing Stage 5 viewers to know the ecology of a work—its time, its
history, its questions, its travels, its intricacies. Drawing on his/her own
history with one work in particular, and with viewing in general, this
viewer combines personal contemplation with views that broadly
encompass universal concerns. Here, memory infuses the landscape of
the painting, intricately combining the personal and the universal

A propósito, o sistema VTS Visual Thinking Strategies e VUE Visual Thinking in Education, embora aqui eu tenha mesmo bastantes dúvidas. O que parece certo é que o sistema funciona.

Why VTS Works
- It uses art to engage, puzzle, intrigue and build a sense of competence about decoding complex and diverse material.
-It is student-centered, inclusive, and fully respectful of all.
-It is easily mastered because the strategy taught uses and hones existing strengths, interests and experience, providing challenges when appropriate to stimulate growth.
- Students work together in group discussion, and then individually, to complete writing assignments — in each case applying what they know to learn more about what they do not.
- It is easy for both teachers and students to transfer strategy and verbal reasoning abilities to other areas.
- It sparks motivation and curiosity.