Art, and Our Pattern Recognizing Minds

Tempo, Rhythm, Beat. I can find this is many (maybe all) forms of art, tying human expressions together as a group (qua art) because of an underlying idea of a "pattern." It need not be repetitive, or algorithmic, per se. But when I perceive something, I feel like I am finding patterns in my observation in an attempt to organize and categorizing and map onto the large network of meanings I've already acquired. That is, I feel like I try to find patterns in order to understand what I'm perceiving. When I find a pattern that matches what I'm perceiving, I immediately am flooded with connecting meanings and understandings which help me parse the perception. And when it doesn't map onto any of my already known patterns, segmenting the perception and breaking it down into smaller and smaller parts which make up its whole, I dissect the perception to the point at which I do have pieces that match other smaller pieces in my memory. I can then build it back up from what I know and understand what it is (maybe in a way I've never considered).

I think this is perhaps an important, if not necessary, component of Art. Part of what makes a thing Art, maybe, is that it contains within the experience of it a type of pattern. I feel like when I can match the pattern of something strange to something I know and then reconcile the unknown with the known, I feel a sort of pleasure. Art might be seen as a means through which to experience this certain type of pleasure. I can create an artifact that when I or others observe it, we are given the opportunity to pattern-map the perception of it onto our minds and graft it into our organization network, releasing a pleasurable experience and a greater understanding of reality in general (one new experience laid down).

It's interesting how, like in computer video editing software, I can see a pattern in the little blocks of video sequences that seem to me just like the bars of musical sequences in an auditory composition. And like with graphic design especially (and maybe paintings more generally) purely visual expressions carry with them a very definite rhythm as well. It seems like a common thread in different types of Artwork. It seems like a fundamental piece of what makes a thing Artistic. It might be this way because of how we as humans are built to perceive things consciously the way we do.