Week Seven

 May 13, 2021

Week Seven: Neuroscience + Art

    The uncertainty of knowledge that surrounds the brain is a mystery even in modern times. Though we know a lot about our body, the brain is the one area where scientists lack knowledge. Sigmund Freud was an influential figure surrounding neuroscience with the discovery of the conscious and unconscious mind. 

Picture Depicting Freud's Conscious and Unconscious Mind

    In Victoria Vesna's lecture, she mentions both Freud as well as another scientist named Carl Gustav Jung. Both Freud and Jung studied together but as time went on, they started to deviate from one another's ideas. While Jung believed some of Freud's ideas, he theorized that everyone is born with an innate "collective unconscious." He also believed that every person was born with archetypes, which build the collective unconscious. 

Picture Depicting Jung's Archetypes

    

    The bridge between neuroscience and art is a rather imaginative one. Interpreting art has no written instructions. Art itself is an expressive form illustrated by a single individual. When interpreting art, the only thing guiding onlookers is their own personal feelings. Feelings and instincts reside in the unconscious according to Freudian theory. Terry Berrett, the art critic who wrote "Principles for Interpreting Art," stated that there are multiple interpretations for every piece of artwork and cannot be limited to a single interpretation. Art and neuroscience are linked through the unconscious and in many other ways. 

Picture of Terry Berrett's "Principles for Interpreting Art"

References:

Cherry, Kendra. “Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic Theories in Psychology.” Verywell Mind, www.verywellmind.com/freudian-theory-2795845#:~:text=In%20Freudian%20theory%2C%20the%20human,the%20conscious%20and%20unconscious%20mind.&text=In%20addition%20to%20these%20two,id%2C%20ego%2C%20and%20superego.

Fritscher, Lisa. “How the Collective Unconscious Is Tied to Dreams, Beliefs, and Phobias.” Verywell Mind, www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-collective-unconscious-2671571.

Lam, Author Vivian, et al. “‘We Know Very Little about the Brain’: Experts Outline Challenges in Neuroscience.” Scope, Logo Left ContentLogo Right Content 10,000+ Posts Scope Stanford University School of Medicine Blog, 20 Dec. 2017, scopeblog.stanford.edu/2016/11/08/challenges-in-neuroscience-in-the-21st-century/#:~:text=Though%20we've%20made%20advances,very%20little%20about%20the%20brain.&text=Mapping%20the%20components%20of%20the,the%20human%20genome%2C%20S%C3%BCdhof%20said. 

Vesna, Victoria. Lecture. “Conscious / Memory (Part 2).” 16 Nov 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Xlg5wXHWZNI>

Walkup, Nancy. “Art Criticism: Barrett's Principles of Interpretation.” Davis Publications, www.davisart.com/blogs/schoolarts-room/art-criticism-barretts-principles-of/#:~:text=Good%20interpretations%20of%20art%20tell,they%20tell%20about%20the%20critic.&text=A%20critic%20ought%20not%20to,interpretation%20are%20artworks%2C%20not%20artists.