The white cube of the museum versus the gray cube of the street: The role of context in aesthetic evaluations

The cognitive and emotional processes involved in experiencing an artwork are influenced by characteristics of the artwork and the viewer, but also by contextual factors. We studied how the 2 contexts of street and museum, as well as personal interest in modern art and graffiti art, affect aesthetic judgments and aesthetic emotions. For this purpose, we embedded modern artworks and graffiti art in street and museum scenes. Participants with different style preferences were asked to evaluate them for liking, interest, and valence. We found that being interested in modern art led to higher liking and interest ratings for modern artworks, but not for graffiti art. Conversely, being interested in graffiti increased ratings on all scales for graffiti art, but not for modern art. Also, interest in graffiti art had a stronger effect on valence ratings in a street context ("gray cube") than in a museum context ("white cube"). Therefore, we conclude that the context in combination with individual attitudes, such as specific art interests, has a relevant influence on our aesthetic experiences, with museums not always eliciting most positive effects.