Dionigi Mattia Gagliardi, Giulia Torromino, Manuel Focareta, Sara Cuono, Salvatore Gaetano Chiarella, Federica Marenghi and Matteo Maioli
in NODES 21-22 →
2023
doi.org/10.57633/NODES-21/6-ENG
Halfway through the last century ethology first defined the notion of supernormal stimulus as specific natural and artificial stimuli with pronounced characteristics capable of eliciting amplified responses. Following ethological studies, many scholars a few years later explored the idea of supernormality with respect to human cultures as well, coming to classify many types of stimuli, from pornography to drugs and fast-food, as supernormal stimuli. Within this speculative framework, even art has been hypothesised as a form of supernormal stimulus for humans. Starting with an introduction to the ethological concept of supernormal stimulus, this article explores the hypothesis of “art as a supernormal stimulus”. It does so by reviewing the main theoretical-speculative stances in the historical and psychological fields and experimental contributions in the neuroscientific field that have addressed this issue, in an attempt to show the potential that the concept of supernormal stimulus can bring to the aesthetic debate.
Cite this article: Gagliardi, D. M., Torromino, G., Focareta, M., Cuono, S. Chiarella, S.G., Marenghi, F., and Maioli, M. (2023). Art as supernormal stimulus. On biological activation, cognitive stimulation, and the challenging of cultural norms. Nodes (21-22):116-123, Numero Cromatico Editore, Roma