Art and the Mind Brain scans were done on people that were shown a series of artwork. The scans showed that it measured change in blood flow in one part of the brain. The blood flow increased for a beautiful piece of artwork just as it increases when we look at somebody we love. This tells us that art induces a feel good sensation directly to the brain. So when we look at art whether it is a still life, an abstract, a landscape or a portrait there is strong activity in that part of the brain related to pleasure. The test was carried out on dozens of people, who were picked at random but who had little prior knowledge of art and therefore would not be unduly influenced by current tastes and the fashionability of the artist. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan measured blood flow in the medial orbitofrontal cortex, part of the brain associated with pleasure and desire. I have always believed art matters so it is exciting to see some scientific evidence to support the view that life is enhanced by instantaneous contact with works of art. The brain and its functioning parts: mind, body, spirit, talk about human perception, and internal storytelling, without it, the conscious mind, at best a fragile, dark window on the real world would be cursed by fatalism. Like a prisoner serving a life sentence in solitary confinement, deprived of any freedom to explore and starving for surprise, it would deteriorate. More often than not, people expect a piece of art to speak to them in terms other than visual, preferably in words, however, when a painting needs to be supplemented and explained by words I would wager to think it means either that it has not fulfilled its function or perhaps that people are deprived of vision.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 02:27:27 +0000
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