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Articles on Aesthetics

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Investment in public parks can help reduce crime. Peter Titmuss/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images.

Crime is lower when cities are greener: evidence from South Africa supports the link

People may think that green spaces often hide criminals. On the contrary, there is evidence they contribute to reducing crime.
There’s a creeping conformity taking place on the web. Mint Images via Getty Images

Yes, websites really are starting to look more similar

Design bloggers have long had creeping suspicion of a more monolithic web, so a team of researchers decided to analyze the aesthetics of nearly 10,000 websites.
Detail from Emily Kam Kngwarray, Anmatyerr people. Yam awely 1995 synthetic polymer paint on canvas 150 x 491 cm National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Gift of the Delmore Collection, Donald and Janet Holt 1995 © Emily Kam Kngwarray.

Friday essay: in defence of beauty in art

Today, beauty counts for little in the judgement of works of art. But our felt experience of beauty connects us with an object’s maker, revealing a pure moment of humanity.
Tommy Wiseau clutches a football in ‘The Room,’ the 2003 film he wrote, produced and starred in. Wiseau Films

What makes some art so bad that it’s good?

Sometimes a work of art is characterized by a string of failures, but nonetheless ends up being a gorgeous freak accident of nature.
‘The Dictator’ (2012) by Sacha Baron-Cohen plays on the fact that kitsch is used by dictators and fundamentalists to redefine our world. Zennie Abraham/Flickr

How kitsch consumed the world

Kitsch has slowly become the main cultural reference for all that surrounds us, and thrives in propaganda.

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