David Zaig wrote:
> For many years I have felt that art has been isolated in its own
solipsistic
> universe. Art is far removed from the profound advances of knowledge that
> have taken place in this century.
This is a facet of Western society. Most books on philosophy of arts,
being music (e.g. Dahlhaus) and others dichotomize art from everyday
life,
as well as from science, and even society. I read a book written in the
first half of the century that art and politic should not mix.
Dahlhaus in his "Aesthetics of Music" shows that music (and thus any
other
forms of art) is put somehow on a piedestal, is distinguished from
everyday
life. This view is very much ingrained in our experience of art, and
this
includes as well scientists. But then, when a scientist (neurologist,
cognitivists,
or others scientists from similar fields) inquires about art, visual art
are almost
exclusively the art of choices (see for example this Summer issue of
The Journal of Consciousness Studies, especially the paper by
Ramachandran &
Hirstein). This is a problem because many of these scientists make
universally
claims about how art works in the brain, based almost exclusively on
visual
arts. We can talk about arts. This is a mistake. Each form of arts
sollicitate
our senses and thus the brain so differently: visual, stage art, music,
even
cooking, clothing, etc. It is impossible to make universal claims on the
sole
basis of visual art. Scientists should at least recognize that and stop
making
such (at times) sweeping claims, as Ramachandran & Hirstein are somewhat
doing.
> One of my concerns is in understanding how artistic judgment is generated:
> why do we like certain images and not others? I think that answers lie in
> the brain; understanding the brain can help us differentiate between
belief
> and something closer to reality.
> Does anyone have thoughts on the role of the brain in art? I would
welcome
> input from scientists as well as those who are involved in the arts.
I am musician and anthropologist. I am very interested at what is called
in anthropology "sensory modalities". Why some societies are more
visually-oriented, as is undoubtedly the case with Western Society,
while
others are more aural-orally oriented? This view can apply as well to
musicians,
painters, poets. Thus, to talk of art and the mind in a very generally
sense
could be misleading. There is the brain, but there is also how
consciousness
is focus for the prerogatives of a specific and how it modally shapes
the
brain.
_____________________
Bruno Deschênes
Tel.: (514) 277-4665 * Fax: (514) 844-5498
Courriel: musis@globetrotter.net
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