Week 7: Neuroscience + Art

“We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies.” –Pablo Picasso

This quote by Pablo Picasso shows the interesting relationship between the brain and art. The mind and memory plays a key role in art and vice versa. After viewing information from this week the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the impact neuroscience has on the art world is ones memory and the ability to draw a portrait. Any artist who sits down at a white canvas and is painting a scenery or portrait of something or someone else they are using their brain and conscious memory to do so. “The human brain is wired in such a way that we can make sense of lines, colors and patterns on a flat canvas. Artists throughout human history have figured out ways to create illusions such as depth and brightness that aren't actually there but make works of art seem somehow more real” (Elizabeth Landau). It all starts with the neurons in our brain able to receive information and create art. This portrait by Claude Monet is an example of a real life image of his water-lily garden. Our brain is able to recognize and draw specific objects due to our ability to remember what things looks like. The ability to translate our thoughts in the brain from looking at it live and converting it into a still picture is result to memory and our conscious mind.

Neuroesthetics is the research of neurological functions and its association with the beauty of art and its connection with the brain. “It turns out that these outlines tap into the same neural processes as the edges of objects that we observe in the real world. The individual cells in the visual system that pick out light-dark edges also happen to respond to lines, Cavanagh said. We'll never know who was the first person to create the first "sketch," but he or she opened the avenue to our entire visual culture” (Landau). Thinking in general is the start to realizing how much of an impact the brains anatomy and its function must have on art. As I looked more deeply into the background of neuroesthetics the advancements of discoveries of neuroscience and the brain are only continuing to develop. I think that the history and learning how the brain embodies all characteristics allows the human body to perform these functions and create such artistic pieces of work. Imaging is used to see what areas of the brain are stimulated when certain functions are being performed. This creates the ability to see interpret certain forms of judgment and shows certain links between the neurons in the brain and artistic activity.

Neuroscientist Greg Dunn dives deeply into the immersion of Asian art and neuroscience. The neuron cells that comprise our brain are portrayed in his paintings through the Asian sumi-e style of painting. His passion for painting reflects and merges with his desire to represents the many fascinations that come with the tiny neurons of our brain. In fact he creates a beautiful expression of art.

Sources:

Tucker, Abigail. "How Does the Brain Process Art?" Smithsonian. 1 Nov. 2012. Web. 15 May 2015.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-does-the-brain-process-art-80541420/?no-ist

Landau, Elizabeth. "What the Brain Draws From: Art and Neuroscience - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 15 Sept. 2012. Web. 13 May 2015.

Hyman, John. "Art and Neuroscience." Web. 15 May 2015. http://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/academics/hyman/files/art_and_neuroscience.pdf

"About | Greg Dunn Design." Greg Dunn Design. Web. 15 May 2015.

Jackson, Candace. “How Art Affects the Brain.” The Wall Street Journal. N.p., 22 2010. Web. 15 May 2015. <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703699204575017050699693576.html>.