My Aesthetic Preferences Experiment

[Pallas]

The reason I signed up was mostly to see how valid aesthetic preferences are as a way to judge type, so before anyon types me, here are pictures from my digital art collection (some of which are newly added but in the same style). A lot of it probably isn't super "highbrow" art but frankly I find a lot of what is supposed to be super artsy and sophisticated to be ugly and offputting and make me feel uncomfortable (like all the popular abstract, cubist, and surreal stuff) or boring (like bowls of fruit, why do I care about a bowl of fruit sitting on a table even). I could probably find more "highbrow" art that I liked but I haven't had that kind of education or upbringing really.

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Also, if this matters, my musical preferences are a lot wider than my artistic preferences, pretty much to the point of being absurd. My favorite is opera and art songs (basically all of it too, although I really have a thing for Wagner, which I hope doesn't offend people), but I also like "regular" classical music (mostly loud symphonic stuff like Mahler and Beethoven, I'm not really into Chopin piano, although string instrument music I like decently if not as much as sung music), metal, some world/folk music (Caucasian has been my favorite so far), the other kind of folk music, and some musical music (like stuff from the Sound of Music or My Fair Lady). A lot of times I'll just like music played in certain social contexts (like dances or parties) if I would have otherwise been indifferent to it or even somewhat dislike it.

As for colors, I usually consider myself not to have a favorite color since they can all look pretty in the right context and ugly in the wrong one, but if I had to pick, red, purple, black, and gold (like shiny gold) are the ones I use the most, and about equally, for wearing or getting various items in, then I find all the colors besides blue (even mustard yellow and unpopular colors like that) generally mildly pleasing and blue just really tepid and flat without a good context.

Edit: Thanks!

[Pallas]

That link doesn't work for me. It just says things in Russian with a red box instead of doing anything.

I'm not so much just trying to get a type from pictures as I am trying to see if associative methods match up with other ones since I'm so tired of self-reporting personality tests. People just tend to choose things based on their values and it's not accurate. People can't just pick art or other things besides self-reporting based on consciously-held values or mis/conceptions quite as easily. Plus, I don't think about myself that much except when people ask, so I often don't even know the answers to the questions.

[Pallas]

OK, thanks.

How do I also decide to add more attachments in case I ever want to do that? I don't think any of the other forums I've regularly used even have attachments. I was originally going to do 10 rows of 3 pictures, I might as well finish that here anyways (even if it isn't laid out quite how I'd like).

Edit: Did the test, got exactly what I thought as the main type, but I still want more opinions before I say anything else. So far all my different tests are matching up and coming out consistent with regards to the main type (at first contrary to my wishes) so socionics seems to be measuring something even if it's not measuring what it thinks it is.

[Not A Communist Shill]

Maybe Gamma. I reminded of @Expat saying that he saw the painting The Accolade by Edmund Leighton as representative of an ESI-LIE relationship. There seems to be a lot of mysticism and mythology in the images you chose.

[Not A Communist Shill]

How do I also decide to add more attachments in case I ever want to do that? I don't think any of the other forums I've regularly used even have attachments. I was originally going to do 10 rows of 3 pictures, I might as well finish that here anyways (even if it isn't laid out quite how I'd like).

Is it not possible to edit your post and add more attachments that way (or is there a limit?)? You could add them to a photo album connected to your account, or upload them to an external site like imgr.

[summerprincess]

This type of art is pretty on the surface but it has no substance. I think there is some use to it, for fun, but it will never be taken as seriously as "abstract, cubist, and surreal" stuff for a reason. There are reasons why great art is perceived the way that it is, because it tends to be historically/ideologically significant, break some type of boundary or norm, include complex symbolism, provide a poignant snapshot of daily life in a particular time and place, etc. This type of fantasy art does not do any of that, in my opinion. Your description doesn't seem to be very Beta, so I doubt you are one of the types. However, a lot of the pieces are 'dark' and mystical, which is kind of a Beta characteristic. Still.... the overall themes and quality of both your description and the art makes me think Gamma

[maniac]

I think your art has too much going on. Probably some Ni type.

[Sol]

by pics seems Se valued type
if to take your messages, - P, N type
So on now moment I think INFP and INTP as most possible versions.

[Adam Strange]

1. Your pictures seem to have Ni (mystical) themes and Delta clarity of execution.

2. Three pictures made me think of Gamma. The woman with the Knight, the man in the wolfskin, and the man with the scorpions. (LIE's have been called human carnivorous scorpions).

3. The name "Shield-Maiden" sounds ESI or LSI to me. A woman who fights alongside a man. Are you counter-phobic?

4. I just read the text in your OP and it strikes me as something that could have been written by an LSI, but LSI's share two function positions with ESI's.

I have no idea what that means for your type. Too little information.

P.S.
The more I look at these pictures, the more I think LSI.

The black-haired woman holding a helmet is LSI. The wolf-character is more EIE than LIE. The old man represents valuing knowledge, and the old man teaching the boy represents civilized systems. Looks more and more like you are LSI.

Bonus. The little girl hiding from the giant bee is e6, and the repeating castle theme with sole characters is Sp/Sx.

[Pallas]

This type of art is pretty on the surface but it has no substance. I think there is some use to it, for fun, but it will never be taken as seriously as "abstract, cubist, and surreal" stuff for a reason. There are reasons why great art is perceived the way that it is, because it tends to be historically/ideologically significant, break some type of boundary or norm, include complex symbolism, provide a poignant snapshot of daily life in a particular time and place, etc. This type of fantasy art does not do any of that, in my opinion. Your description doesn't seem to be very Beta, so I doubt you are one of the types. However, a lot of the pieces are 'dark' and mystical, which is kind of a Beta characteristic. Still.... the overall themes and quality of both your description and the art makes me think Gamma

I know, I said I'm not educated in art at all so I just picked pretty stuff. Maybe I should have only done a music discussion, but mostly I just wanted something besides self-reporting because frankly I don't think about myself much and just got interested in personality typing because it comes up quite a bit if you go out and talk to various people.

I largely just don't like a lot of modern art because it comes across as nihilistic to me. It's not pretty, the work itself doesn't symbolize anything, and the pictures aren't going anywhere or coming from anywhere as I see it. What it is "symbolic" of to me is a culture losing values and going into a crisis. And if I can't tell what's going in a picture that makes me uncomfortable to boot. I largely do prefer really traditional art on the few occasions I've gone to a gallery with someone. I listen to mostly opera and read mostly literary things like Goethe and Shakespeare but I've never cared so much for visual art, even though it seems to be the only associative typing people want to do.

[Aylen]

This type of art is pretty on the surface but it has no substance. I think there is some use to it, for fun, but it will never be taken as seriously as "abstract, cubist, and surreal" stuff for a reason. There are reasons why great art is perceived the way that it is, because it tends to be historically/ideologically significant, break some type of boundary or norm, include complex symbolism, provide a poignant snapshot of daily life in a particular time and place, etc. This type of fantasy art does not do any of that, in my opinion. Your description doesn't seem to be very Beta, so I doubt you are one of the types. However, a lot of the pieces are 'dark' and mystical, which is kind of a Beta characteristic. Still.... the overall themes and quality of both your description and the art makes me think Gamma

what i gather from looking at these images is a general preference for dynamic, expansive scenes, vibrant color palettes, and mythological fantasy settings... so definitely an intuitive type. however, i am not really getting an aristocratic vibe from these photos, for whatever reason. i tend to think of aristocratic types being more traditional in their tastes for art, they would probably like the classic masters such as Monet or Fragonard.

i have to agree with @summerprincess in that while these are beautiful superficially, there's little depth to it. i don't feel as though there are additional layers of symbolism when looking at them, and the technical artistic styles are nothing too nontraditional. mostly digital, maybe a few are acrylic.

i'm guessing you're xNxp. INTp, if i had to pick, especially as there seems to be some nascent valuing here and Gamma values.

None of the images stirred emotion, or any reaction, in me but I can see the appeal in some of it from a detached perspective.

Just from the art I thought "ILI" before reading anything else but I know an SLI who would like most of that so maybe it vibes weak/polr Fe to me. It reminds me of some posts from other self typed ILI/LII/SLI on the forum.

FTR, I get ILI-LII on Olga's non verbal art test and IEI on her others. So I don't know how accurate these types of preferences really are in helping someone discover their type. It could lead you in the wrong direction. Some sensors got IEI on that nonverbal test based on their choices.

[Pallas]

well, why not do a music discussion, if you feel you are more confident about your music preferences? i'd like to see it.

personally, i like some modern art, the prettiness factor isn't that important to me anymore. i've seen so much great art that i've become a little blasé to it all; now it takes more than a gorgeous landscape painting to really "wow" me, it needs to be exceptional. i wouldn't hang a Dadaist painting up on my bedroom wall, but i appreciate it nonetheless for what it is.

i can understand why some people don't like modern art, though. i just wish peons would stop saying that it's not really "art" and that artwork must adhere to traditional standards of beauty for it to be "real art", as if such a thing exists...

Oh, I don't think modern art isn't really art at all, I just find it sort of jarring to look at and don't like what it stands for.

I'll do the music discussion now though.

[Pallas]

OK, I give up on art. I discovered art.com and it has way better stuff than the scheist I posted, but preferring traditional art to avant-grade art apparently means the art you like is meaningless and it's the avant-grade stuff that scared me away from looking at actually good art in the first place.