STUDY PROJECT ETHOLOGY OF AESTHETICS

Under the title "Ethology of Aesthetics: Quantifying Human Interactions with Art," neuroscientist Prof. Partha Mitra (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA) and artist/theorist Fré Ilgen (Netherlands + Berlin, Germany) have proposed a study at a major art museum, which will focus on the active perception of works of art.

The novelty of this study is that nothing comparable has been done: Ilgen and Mitra wish to explore how persons perceive works of art displayed in the actual setting in a museum, which involves the path one takes through the exhibition spaces, motions of the head and rest of the body while walking around, and the actual field of vision and gaze of the individual viewer, which involves the motions of the eyes.

In contrast to other studies, this study does not intend to locate the spot in our brain where art is processed and will NOT measure any brain activity directly - this cannot be done while walking around. But we will record all data involved in the behaviour of walking around and looking at art. Neuroscience knows enough to inferentially establish the level of brain activity based on those data. This study is the mere start of a longer inquiry into establishing scientific evidence of a relationship between the experience of art and health.

Although this approach is so innovative it is hard to have any expectations beforehand, this study can be considered to be very important in today's discourse about art, because it will raise substantial questions about the experience evoked by artworks, and as such will create a healthy contrast to the idea of the artwork as commodity. It can be expected that this study will fire a lot of discussion and more research.

This page will be up-dated when further decisions are made.




contact