Week 7 | Neuroscience + Art

 The question that Professor Vesna brings up in her introductory lecture "what is consciousness" became the central lens that I looked through as I digest this week's materials. Most notably, the introduction of Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung struck as prime examples of juxtaposition between art and psychology. 

Sigmund Freud is perhaps the most famous, or infamous, person in the shaping of modern psychology. Among his various theories of consciousness lies the theory of art as a form of repressed instincts. He thinks of art as the representation of the artist's psyche as its final form is shaped by the chosen medium, the life experience, and the instinctual impulses of that artist. [1] This aligns with more of my traditional understanding of art and it's interesting for me to see where that notion came from.

Similarly, Carl Gustav Jung is another famous psychologist who also provides a theory of human art. He suggests that the human consciousness is all connected and can be exemplified through the popular visual archetypes such as the great mother, the wise old man, the shadow, the trickster, and the tree of life. [2] The idea that every human subconscious being linked is absurd and yet it makes sense. Though there may be no concrete evidence to support this theory, I see it as an interesting notion that challenges my perspective of consciousness.

Figure 2. Pablo Picasso, Family of Saltimbanques, 1905.

Figure 1. The Great Mother

Another answer to the mystery of consciousness comes from Professor Vesna's lecture about drugs. Upon further research of specifically LSD and Cocaine in relation to art, I found a plethora of examples of the drugs influence in art such as Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by the Beatles and the Rose Period of Picasso's paintings. [3] It's clear that the powerful visuals struck a chord with a mind's creative aspect. This makes sense too considering that LSD has been found to cause the brain to mimic that of a child, where it is unrestrained, hyper emotional, and imaginative. [4] 

Figure 3. The Science of LSD in the Brain

Figure 3. The Science of LSD in the Brain

While all these served as great indications of the relation between art and the mind, perhaps the most intriguing concept for me comes from the idea of Mirror Neurons. These nerve cells activate both when a person acts and when a person observes the same action, suggesting that when observing a piece of art, the observer could be firing the same neurons as the artist did when creating their piece. [5]

With all these multifaceted reasoning of how art and consciousness is related, it makes me question just how integral art is to the human consciousness, and subsequently, human society.

References

[1] McPherrin, Joyce. Biologyofart. https://public.wsu.edu/~kimander/biologyofart.htm. Accessed 11 May 2021.

[2] McKay, Michael. “The Artist Who Glimpsed Carl Jung’s ‘Collective Unconscious’, And What We Did to Her.” Medium, 20 July 2019, https://medium.com/@pyramid87/the-artist-who-glimpsed-carl-jungs-collective-unconscious-and-what-we-did-to-her-af8293d477d3.

[3] “Kooness.” Kooness, https://www.kooness.com/posts/magazine/the-ever-lasting-relationship-between-art-and-substance. Accessed 11 May 2021.

[4] Kelland, Kate. “Brain Scans Show How LSD Mimics Mind of a Baby.” Reuters, 12 Apr. 2016, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-science-psychedelic-idUSKCN0X82B2.

[5] “How Art Changes Consciousness.” UPLIFT, 30 Dec. 2020, https://upliftconnect.com/art-changes-consciousness/.

Image Sources

[1] “The Mother Archetype.” Carl Jung Depth Psychology, 22 Mar. 2020, https://carljungdepthpsychologysite.blog/2020/03/22/the-mother-archetype/.

[2] “Kooness.” Kooness, https://www.kooness.com/posts/magazine/the-ever-lasting-relationship-between-art-and-substance. Accessed 11 May 2021.

[3] “The Science of LSD in the Brain.” The Beckley Foundation, 19 May 2017, https://www.beckleyfoundation.org/the-brain-on-lsd-revealed-first-scans-show-how-the-drug-affects-the-brain/.