The Principle of Isolation

In class we seem to agree that Clive Bell’s theory of significant form is inadequate to define art. Despite the problems with formalism, however, he did make some interesting statements concerning the role of exact representation in aesthetics.
Bell’s criticism of accurate representation (artwork which imitates real life exactly) actually has some scientific support. There is an article in the July 2008 edition of Scientific American Mind entitled “The Neurology of Aesthetics.” In this article, the author presents a series of principles for aesthetics, one of which is the principle of isolation.
The principle of isolation states that art tends to have more aesthetic value when certain qualities (such as shading, color, texture, etc.) are left out of the work. Bell would have described this as “absence of representation” and “absence of technical swagger” (Wartenberg 121). This happens because our brains have limited attentional resources; basically, we can only focus on so much at a time. Because of this, when certain qualities are left out, the qualities which remain in the painting are given more attention (Ramachandran, V., Rogers-Ramachandran, D. (2008). The Neurology of Aesthetics. Scientific American Mind, Vol. 18, pp. 74-77). Perhaps Bell was on to something when he criticized representation.

QUESTION: The fact that our brains can only focus on limited aspects of a painting reminds me of Jason’s entry from February 12th, entitled” An Artist’s Perception Verse That of a Psychologist’s.” I feel like there is a connection, but am having trouble making it. Can anyone help?