Question: Where does Aesthetics Come From?
A few months ago, I saw a piece of fanart that I still think about every now and then.
The piece is a reimagined promotion material for a horror movie called Midsommar. I haven't seen the movie yet, and generally am not a fan of horror movies, however the poster made a strong impression that felt difficult to forget.
Here are the promotional pieces (trigger warning: stylized blood): link
From what I can see of other promotional materials, the movie combines a general flowery pastorical aesthetic with some sort of horror. It feels reminiscent of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring – the juxtaposition of flowery spring celebration with a brutal theme gives off a really strong sense of creepiness and contrast. It undeniably has a unique sense of aesthetics to it.
This makes me think – what about the juxtaposition really creates a sense of lasting appeal? In Blade Runner, the combination of high-tech holographic displays combined with dark, gritty neighborhoods created a classic aesthetic that's influential to this day, and spawned sub-genres of aesthetics like lo-fi. In Vaporwave, it is a juxtaposition of vintage computer graphics, Grecian busts, and mall/campy commercial icons. What lends these combinations enduring popularity, whilst just combining two unrelated things I can think of (say beach ball and the moon) doesn't seem to generate that sort of appeal?
To be sure, this is something that I don't know the answer to yet. If I did, I'm sure that I can make the things I make incredibly compelling. On the other hand, it's possible that the question is so complex (e.g. What makes certain music good? What makes certain books good?) that I won't reach a conclusive answer at all. Nevertheless, I feel the need to phrase the question clearly, if only to spell out an incredibly interesting question, and to serve as the beginning point of answering something like it.