Week 7- Neuroscience + Art

Our materials this week covered neuroscience involving the brain, memory, and consciousness.  This is a topic I have previous experience with, having taken Psychology 10 last quarter.  In Vesna’s lecture one video she discusses neuroscience and art and describes it as an exploding field that artists find interest in because of the mind.  Because neuroscience is so broad and so relevant to humans and their lives, it is a prevalent subject.  

The brain and mind have always been areas of interest for humans, and there is a long timeline of scientists who have explored these.  Franz Gall was one of the first who practiced phrenology: the belief that bumps on one’s head directly related to the human’s intelligence or brain size.  Consciousness is defined as a sense of one’s personal or collective identity, including the attitudes, beliefs, and sensitivities.  I believe a way that consciousness can be related to art is through dreams.  Dreams are artistic expressions that are individualized for each person and created by the brain.


Neuroscience can be connected to art in other ways as well.  In the reading “Neuroculture,” cinematographic material was discussed and the use of the cerebral subject.  These productions “tackle the problem of personal identity free of rationally based epistemic constraints” (816).  One example was “Donovan’s Brain,” a brain extracted from a billionaire’s body and kelp alive maintaining the features of one self.  This was a project that combined neuroscience as well as an aspect of art that blended the two together. The more scientists discover about the brain and mind the more artists will be able to blend it creatively.












Works Cited:
Donovan's Brain. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2017. <https://trailersfromhell.com/donovans-brain-2/>. 
The Fine Art of Neuroscience. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://ec2-23-21-117-9.compute-1.amazonaws.com/blogs/07/20/2011/pretty-smart-the-fine-art-of-neuroscience.html>.
Phrenology. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. <https://www.britannica.com/topic/phrenology>. 
Vesna, Victoria. “Intro” Neuroscience +Art. Lecture.
Vesna, Victoria. "Lectures Part 1" Neuroscience + Art. Lecture
Rolls, Edmund T. Neuroculture: On the Implications of Brain Science. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2012. Print. 


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