Your Brain on Art

How and why do artists create? What is the knowledge that encourages or inspires creativity? How do artists perceive their world and how do viewers interpret their work? This three-part series will examine how artists have intuitively made observations and used procedures and techniques that scientists, through the use of advanced neuro-scanning methods, are just now beginning to explore and understand – that is the relationship between artistic expression and brain function. This is a hot topic these days as witnessed by the success of the recent Johns Hopkins “Science of the Arts” conference and recent PBS and TED programming.

Programs

The first program is "The Science of Improvisation".  The panelists will describe, demonstrate and discuss improvisation and experimentation as an art form and as an essential element in the creative process.

The second session is “The Science of Visual Perception and Art”.  We examine visual perception as it applies to art such as painting, and sculpture.  Knowledge of visual neurobiology can enhance our ability to create and appreciate art.

The third session is "The Science of Aesthetics".  The relatively new field of neuroaesthetics examines how genetics and our life experiences work together to influence what we see as beautiful or interesting and how artists utilize this knowledge in their work.

The programs will be presented before a live audience, aired on Bouldereducation channel BV22 and archived on www.bv22.org.  Program podcasts will be available after each session.

http://www.bmoca.org/2011/09/your-brain-on-art/

Each program will cover multiple artistic disciplines, e.g., painting, sculpture, digital media and photography.Each program will include two artists from different disciplines and two neuroscientists/specialists. Each program will start with 15 to 20 minute conversations between each participant and the moderator. Each is likely to include a multi-media presentation possibly including demonstrations and/orinteractive exercises. After the final conversation all of the presenters will participate in a brief panel discussion followed by a question and answer session.

For more details on this exciting series of workshops, click here.