Overview
What this research program is and why it exists. The frame the rest of the work hangs on.
research / arc / aesthetic-response
Aesthetic response & desire
How does desire (move-toward) separate from preference (like) in figurative response? Compositional features, temporal dynamics, individual-difference structure, museum-corpus diversity, and the artist-study programs that take specific bodies of work seriously as research instruments.
Why this matters
The portable claim — what this arc lets you understand outside the surface domain.
On the surface, fine-art figurative response. Underneath, an instrument: the methods generalize to consumer-behavior research, aesthetic measurement methodology, taste calibration in any high-volume domain, and the design of adaptive measurement instruments well outside HR. The corpus is fine art because the signal is rich; the questions are general.
Spans
Products this arc cuts through. Each application is sometimes the lead empirical apparatus, sometimes the funding/data-collection platform.
Read first
The general-audience entry point for this arc. Drill down below for the full set.
Public introduction (cross-thread)
From VelaGeneral-audience entry point into the Vela research program.
Read →Drill-down — full arc surface
Cross-product. Source application shown on each entry.
Methodology
How the work is done — instruments, protocols, the standards each report inherits.
Reports
The actual research findings — phased results, research-question briefs, applied analyses.
RQ1 — Desire vs. preference
VelaWhat separates desire (move-toward) from preference (like) in figurative response.
RQ2 — Compositional features
VelaWhich compositional features mediate response, and how do they interact.
RQ3 — Temporal dynamics
VelaHow desire moves over a session and across sessions.
RQ4 — Individual differences
VelaWhich dimensions of variance separate participants and how stable they are.
Literature review (cross-thread)
VelaField positioning across the desire / aesthetic / measurement literature.
Desire Index — Vol. 1 analysis
VelaFirst-volume analysis of the desire-index instrument.
Text-aesthetic literature review
VelaLiterature review for the text-aesthetic thread.
Boudoir Studios Program — research proposal
VelaProgram proposal for the Boudoir Studios research initiative.
Boudoir Studios Program — literature review
VelaBoudoir Studios Program — paper outlines
VelaBoudoir Studios Program — methodology
VelaWarhol — methods
VelaMethodological notes for the Warhol artist study.
Klimt — methods
VelaSchiele — methods
VelaSargent — methods
VelaEmotion corpus expansion (2026-04)
VelaNotes on the emotion-corpus expansion plan.
Museum diversity of beauty — research questions
VelaBootstrap of the thread. Three sub-questions: (a) museum-vs-museum corpus differences, (b) museum vs. its primary serving location, (c) temporal change using artwork creation dates. Analysis of (a) is queued at ASN-981.
Diversity of beauty across museum collections
VelaforthcomingCross-museum comparison of how cultural and physical diversity of beauty is represented. Three sub-questions: (a) museum-vs-museum corpus differences, (b) museum vs. its primary audience location, (c) how representation has shifted over time using artwork dates. Forthcoming write-up; questions doc is the live entry above.
Audience tiers
The same headline research surfaced four ways: peer-review, engineering, general audience, product.
Public introduction (cross-thread)
VelaGeneral audienceGeneral-audience entry point into the Vela research program.
Text-aesthetic — public introduction
VelaGeneral audiencePeer-review framing
VelaPeer-review framing · forthcomingHeadline findings positioned for academic peer review.
Bibliography
Field positioning — formal references and literature maps grounding the research threads.
Literature map (cross-thread)
VelaMap of the field across the major Vela research threads.
Text-aesthetic literature map
VelaMuseum diversity-of-beauty — literature map
VelaforthcomingForthcoming — field positioning for the diversity-of-beauty thread.
Preregistrations & protocols
Studies and intervention protocols filed before execution.