International Congress of Aesthetics 2007 “Aesthetics Bridging Cultures” Aesthetic Understanding through Visual Culture Alpaslan UÇAR, RA,Turkey Recent developments in art education, starting from John Dewey`s conception of art experience in a theoretical framework, have tried to clarifiy interpretation and understanding of art and visual culture created by today`s mass media. Visual culture is in reality simply what is seen. Therefore, what we see mainly depends on what there is to see: how objects or concepts are being received and/or manipulated in an aesthetic understanding as well as in the imagination. Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that mainly explains the nature and value of art experiences. It aims to identify the clues within works that can be used to understand, judge, and defend judgments about these works. Aesthetic understanding is concerned with issues in education, philosophical aesthetics and art criticism at all institutional levels. In addition, it clarifies an understanding of the aesthetic importance of the new communications, media and environmental aesthetics we face. Aesthetic understanding is in a sense a vehicle not only to educators, but also to philosophers, art critics and art historians. Thus, visual images are all around and our understanding of these images is deepened by using visual culture. Therefore, students could easily pick up the aesthetic images they need and perceive their environment wisely for use in their art work. Now that visual culture is expanding so quickly and changing so rapidly, students should be informed and directed by the instructor to realize the differences good or bad and use these selected images correctly while making art or expressing themselves. Introduction We face a shift from text-based communication to image saturation today. This shift is also dramatically reflected in the field of art education today. We need to investigate these changes from a contemporary and postmodern perspective to understand the changing forms of art brought about by new technologies. It is important to become open to the new conceptions about the nature of art. If we say that art education is responsible and open to new notions and events around us, then we should reconsider the bases of our teaching understanding. It is essential to emphasize the perspectives of visual culture in art education, purposes, methods of art education and the prospect of a new orthodoxy. Art education differs from established approaches to understand the arts. In order to be aware of the visual culture and its powerful impact, creative individuals need to develop personal enquiries on the basic practises. In a sense, creative solutions and . International Congress of Aesthetics 2007 Aesthetics Bridging Cultures” Aesthetic Understanding through Visual Culture Alpaslan. philosophical aesthetics and art criticism at all institutional levels. In addition, it clarifies an understanding of the aesthetic importance of the new communications, media and environmental aesthetics. aesthetic understanding as well as in the imagination. Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that mainly explains the nature and value of art experiences. It aims to identify the clues within