Neuroscience + Art

Image result for cave drawingsThis week's readings provided an interesting contrast to the prior weeks, in that rather than scientific fields influencing artistic expression, art helped to shape the theories which govern how the brain perceives the world around us. Early artists constantly painted images, trying ever-newer techniques to accurately reproduce the world around them. Through this iterative method, artists acted as early neuroscientists, allowing us to glean insights on how our brain works. (Frazetto and Anker)

Image result for chiaroscuroAs art evolved, our understanding of how we perceive art evolved as well. Cave drawings were initially two-dimensional clusters of lines that our brains were able to interpret as representations of plants, animals, and other natural objects. While the real world isn't seen as a series of distinct lines separating objects from their background, our brains can interpret the markings as a representation of the real world. As artists refined their work to make it seem more "realistic", they came upon the science of how the brain perceives depth. Mengfei Huang writes that Leonardo Da Vinci's techniques of sfumato and chiaroscuro helped give understanding to concepts of linear perspective and how the brain perceives depth. (Huang)

Image result for psychedelicWhat I found interesting was how the advent of psychedelic drugs affected the art environment in the 1960s and 70s, specifically through the counterculture movement. (Vesna) Changing the way the brain perceives the world enabled musicians and artists to create surreal sensory experiences that would have likely not been imagined otherwise. The connection between psychedelics and the art world allow us to entertain the possibility that further enhancement of our sensory experiences can allow us to create newer forms of art that push the boundaries of how we envision sound, color, and reality. (theamygdaloids)

References

Frazetto, Giovanni, and Suzanne Anker. “Neuroculture .” Nature Reviews - Neuroscience, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 2009.

 Huang, Mengfei. The Neuroscience of Art . Stanford Journal of Neuroscience.
uconlineprogram. “Neuroscience-pt1.Mov.” YouTube, YouTube, 17 May 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=500&v=TzXjNbKDkYI.

ucdesma. “Neuroscience-Mark Cohen.mov.” YouTube, YouTube, 31 Dec. 1969, www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=eDq8uTROeXU.

theamygdaloids. “Fearing - The Amygdaloids.” YouTube, YouTube, 14 July 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=AMI3hbgRj6o. 

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