Abstract

Meta-aesthetics is the aesthetic field relating to the images of products where the conversion value, separate from the product’s function, takes part directly in its value. Meta-aesthetics is among the subjects that today’s art and design world must address more sensitively. This study was based on a 2009 dissertation measuring university students’ awareness and understanding of meta-aesthetics. In 2014, the study was repeated using a different sample and was published as an essay in 2015. Using these data, this research compared the meta-aesthetic awareness of the group of students receiving art education and trained to be art educators in 2009, and another group of students trained as artists and designers receiving art and design education in 2014. The study found that neither the teenagers training as artists and designers nor the art educator students had full knowledge of the meta-aesthetic subjects of their awareness or of aesthetics. Aesthetic function of education, and especially art education, does not meet expectations to improve and crystallize students’ aesthetic awareness. This research underlines the obligation of art and design education institutions to renew their focus on aesthetic subjects. It will serve as a resource for researchers concerned with the future of art and design education.

Key words: Art and design education, meta-aesthetic, visual arts and design, aesthetics, aesthetics education.