I guess I tend to be technical. Most of my visual art has been drafting and mapping, and occasional cartooning. I need to do a book cover (for myself), and it's hard because I need to convey certain points in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Drafting and mapping is straightforward in the information that must be conveyed. Cartooning depends on the gag and how to present it. But beyond that, it becomes incredibly difficult, at least for me.
From a technical standpoint, church art has historically existed to convey the message of the gospels, and various events in the bible, but, in a cathedral, also to promote a sense of reverence (something we could stand more of in our era). For art for escapism, to convey a certain sense works, too. Most fiction is escapism, to take a reader's mind off his and her own troubles for a short time (Have heard it described as competing for Joe's beer money)
Aesthetics seems like something that intersects art, but something different. Once saw a chert hand ax that the maker had flaked off the edges but left a fossilized shell intact in the center. When I saw it, was struck by the sense of aesthetics that traveled the centuries, maybe even millennia, from the craftsman down to the present time. The person who picked up that piece of chert was likely struck by the beauty and unusual aspect of that shell and sought to preserve it while making a tool. Unfortunately, for aesthetics, I know what I like but not much more than that, which is why something like a book cover is hard for me.
Will have to check out Clive Bell's book Art. That said, I may not be able to grasp it.
