Abstract
Studying aesthetic preference is notoriously difficult because it targets individual experience. Eye movements provide a rich source of behavioral measures that directly reflect subjective choice. To determine individual preferences for simple composition rules we here use fixation duration as the fitness measure in a Gaze Driven Evolutionary Algorithm (GDEA), which has been demonstrated as a tool to identify aesthetic preferences (Holmes and Zanker, 2012). In the present study, the GDEA was used to investigate the preferred combination of color and shape which have been promoted in the Bauhaus arts school. We used the same three shapes (square, circle, triangle) used by Kandinsky (1923), with the three color palette from the original experiment (A), an extended seven color palette (B), and eight different shape orientation (C). Participants were instructed to look for their preferred circle, triangle or square in displays with eight stimuli of different shapes, colors and rotations, in an attempt to test for a strong preference for red squares, yellow triangles and blue circles in such an unbiased experimental design and with an extended set of possible combinations. We Tested six participants extensively on the different conditions and found consistent preferences for color-shape combinations for individuals, but little evidence at the group level for clear color/shape preference consistent with Kandinsky's claims, apart from some weak link between yellow and triangles. Our findings suggest substantial inter-individual differences in the presence of stable individual associations of color and shapes, but also that these associations are robust within a single individual. These individual differences go some way toward challenging the claims of the universal preference for color/shape combinations proposed by Kandinsky, but also indicate that a much larger sample size would be needed to confidently reject that hypothesis. Moreover, these experiments highlight the vast potential of the GDEA methodology in experimental aesthetics and beyond.
Highlights
For many centuries questions about the origin, rational, universality, and biological foundations of aesthetic judgments have been a matter of speculation and debate
Taken together and keeping the limitations of the current data in mind, our present results support a view that there is a certain degree of correspondence between color and shape in all participants, and that particular preferences are reproducible for individuals
Whilst individual combinations are not necessarily consistent with Kandinsky’s reported correspondences, our findings do suggest that aesthetic preference for more complex color-shape combinations as seen in art, design, and packaging might be influenced by such associations
Summary
For many centuries questions about the origin, rational, universality, and biological foundations of aesthetic judgments have been a matter of speculation and debate. He was a self-professed synaesthete (Ione and Tyler, 2003; Kadosh and Henik, 2007), and had a profound interest in the combination of such features as color and shape in a single object In addition to his associations between color and music, Kandinsky was convinced that there are universal harmonies between shape and color. He claimed that there were strong associations between the primary colors blue, red, and yellow and simple geometric shapes like circles, squares, and triangles (Jacobsen, 2002).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
