Week 7- Neuroscience + Art

Whether we like it or not, science is shaping the world that we live in today. We are “witnessing the rise of a neuroculture” according to Giovanni Frazzetto and Suzanne Anker (Frazzetto). Almost every scrap of media that reaches our eyes and ears, every billboard to commercial is precisely built, based on psychological tendencies and our resulting behavior.  In fact, we’ve come to understand that the world each of us perceives is built completely within our head and is dependent on what goes on in our brains. But we must put our understandings of psychology to better use than advertisement; endless psychological solutions to every day problems exist according to Rory Sutherland. Should we spend more money on a faster train system or instead pay much less to add free wifi and make the trip appear much less long (Sutherland)? Similarly, Sir Ken Robinson argues that psychological solutions should be used to reform our outdated education system (Robinson).

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Additionally, neuroscience has continued to influence the artistic hemisphere of our culture, from Cajal’s beautiful drawings of neurons to Greg Dunn’s intricate etchings and gold-leaf prints of like structures, artists continue to explore this realm today (Dunn). Artist Megan McGlynn fuses her understanding of the brain and art through mysterious and complex architectural sculptures. As view observes the sculptures more closely, they begin to realize that there is a hidden complexity and addition of detail to these structures, just like the brain. According to McGlynn, like when viewing an beautiful building, viewing her sculptures leads people to wonder how such a thing was built, what “anatomical building blocks” were necessary to build such a mysterious thing (McGlynn).

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While McGlynn explores the mysteries of the brain, Suzanne Anker argues that despite the discrepancies between the unique minds of individuals, there is a commonality present between us. Her one of her pieces displays many MRI scans that contain a simple butterfly-like shape upon each one. Although each shape is different, they unquestionably resemble the same thing (Vesna).

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Consciousness is defined as a personal or collective sense of identity. With every advance in neuroscience and every new artistic exploration of these topics, we further develop a collective understanding of ourselves and shape a group consciousness that we share as a species.

References

Dunn, Greg. Greg Dunn Design. Greg Dunn, 2013. Web.

Frazzetto, Giovanni, and Suzanne Anker. "Neuroculture." Nature Reviews Neuroscience Nat Rev Neurosci: 815-21. Print.

Neuroscience-Mark Cohen.mov. Perf. Mark Cohen. Ucdesma's Channel, 2012. Film.

McGlynn, Megan. "Gallery Interview: Megan McGlynn." The Beautiful Brain. Word Press, 9 Sept. 2013. Web.

RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms. Perf. Ken Robinson. RSA Animate, 2010. Film.

Sutherland, Rory. "Rory Sutherland: Perspective is everything." TEDxAthens. TED Talks. , Athens. 1 Dec. 2011. Lecture.

Neuroscience-pt1.mov. Perf. Victoria Vesna. UC Online Program, 2012. Film.