Week 7: Neuroscience + Art

The future of neuroscience and art have an endless amount of  possibilities. Advancements in technology are always being made and new discoveries create countless ways us humans come to understand and articulate what these findings can mean to us. In turn creating indefinite ways in which art can be made. A topic that interested me the most about this week's module, was the idea of sleeping and how our brains function while we sleep. Through professor Vesna's lesson, I learned that many of our dreams, 95% to be exact, are forgotten. The fact that we know very little is what I believe helps create space and a push for artists to wanna understand this process more and perhaps create their own perspectives through art on how this process may work. The intersection of neuroscience and art provides many ways we as humans can   unlock new forms of creativity, expression, and understanding.

Well known artists like Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso have very popular works on art that have been loosely based on their dreams or dreams in general. This is what I believe to be a perfect example of the endless possibilities of what can be born out of neuroscience, or aspects and art. A perfect example of Dali and Picassos dream based works would be firstly by Dali, Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening is a surrealist painting by Salvador Dalí. The woman in the painting that is dreaming, is said to represent his wife, Gala. Picasso did a similar dream based painting in 1932, titled Le Reve,  of a woman sleeping said to be dreaming, both painting filled with color and giving off a positive vibe. 

On that same note, there are other sides of dreams, nightmares. A perfect articulation on this was painted by artist Henry Fuseli, titled The Nightmare. Unlike the other two paintings mentioned earlier, this painting is dark and gives off a sense of fear and coldness.

Work Cited (The 3 photos were also taken from these websites) 

The Dream (Le Rêve), 1932 by Pablo Picasso, www.pablopicasso.org/the-dream.jsp. Accessed 23 May 2023.

“Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second before Awakening, 1944, 41×51 Cm by Salvador Dali: History, Analysis & Facts.” Arthive, arthive.com/salvadordali/works/376047~Dream_caused_by_the_flight_of_a_bee_around_a_pomegranate_a_second_before_awakening. Accessed 23 May 2023.

“Neuroscience PT3.” YouTube, 16 May 2012, youtu.be/E5EX75xoBJ0.

“OTL and Bruin Learn.” UCLA Online Teaching and Learning, online.ucla.edu/bruin-learn/. Accessed 23 May 2023.

“| Detroit Institute of Arts Museum.” Detroit Institute of Art, dia.org/collection/nightmare-45573. Accessed 23 May 2023.