The Artistic Brain: Biology and Computation behind Painting and Music

About

Science and art are rooted in our perception of the world. The course is aimed at exploring the biology of perception and its implications on how we experience works of art. It is a discussion on beauty and the brain, a discussion on the history of breakthroughs in painting and on the nature of the irresistible attraction of music for humans. The course starts with a general overview of how our senses build up a representation of the world, with particular reference to the visual and auditory systems. We shall discuss the biology underlying great painters’ achievement of the conquest of space and movement on a canvas. Then we do a parallel exercise with music, looking at the biological and evolutionary roots of musical perception. This will lead us to a general discussion on beauty and art the notion of artists as intuitive neuroscientists, the perceptual grammar of art, aesthetic universal and computational aesthetics.

Course leader

Fernando Giráldez and Perfecto Herrera

Target group

2nd, 3rd and 4th year undergraduate students

Fee info