Week 7: Neuroscience + Art

Neuroscience is a complex science. Concerned with the inner-workings of the brain and of the mind, neuroscience can seem almost like an abstract science- it is difficult to comprehend in our everyday lives. It is hard to picture and understand how a bunch of neurons and electrical signals somehow translate into our thoughts, ideas, behaviors and emotions.

How does our brain work?

The abstractness of neuroscience, and its difficulty to be understood, contributes to its potential to be unique and powerful pieces of art. These artworks play on our conception of consciousness and force the viewer/participant to really think about what it means to be conscious. Dr. Mark Cohen created a set of goggles within a helmet that inverted the image coming in through the lens, forcing the viewer to see everything upside down. Interestingly enough, the subject would get used to the view, and would be forever used to seeing things upside down. Artist Greg Dunn created beautiful gold leaf images depicting neurons. And artist Suzanne Anker created a series of fMRI images with a Rorschach blot and a butterfly superimposed onto the image. All of these artists aimed to stimulate us to think about our brains, how they work, what they look like and what they mean. 

Anker's fMRI butterfly

Greg Dunn's Maki-e Neurons

Frazzetto and Anker said that since neuroscience concerns all of our individuality, it is a public matter. Concepts of neuroscience are seen in art and so the interaction here between art and science is an opportunity to get the public aware of neuroscience and what its doing. Again we see how art can affect and expose the public to ideas and innovations in science. 

In Carl Jung's The Spiritual Problem of Modern Man, he highlights how we are so focused on our physical senses that we don't spend time trying to understand our unconscious. This is a problem. 

Neuroscience art has the ability to fix this problem. By creating these powerful art pieces, they can prod the public to think more about their unconscious, their brains and their minds, and I think that this is a wonderful thing. 

Sources:

Frazzetto, G., Anker, S. Neuroculture. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 815-821 (November 2009)

Jung, Carl. The Spiritual Problem of Modern Man. 

 "Greg Dunn Design | Visual Art | Neuroscience Art | Gold Leaf Painting." Greg Dunn Design. Web. 16 May 2015. http://www.gregadunn.com/

"Artwork - Suzanne Anker." Suzanne Anker. Web. 16 May 2015. http://www.suzanneanker.com/artwork/   

 "Neuroscience-Mark Cohen.mov." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 16 May 2015.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDq8uTROeXU