Matthias Sperling: Now That We Know

Matthias Sperling returns to Lilian Baylis Studio in London with Now That We Know, a science fiction lecture exploring a future relationship between mind and body, on Thursday 1 and Friday 2 November.

Now That We Know explores a hypothetical future in which science has discovered precisely how our bodies give rise to our mind – there is no longer a gap between the two. It considers how dance and choreography could be expanded by this new understanding, and how society will be altered.

Matthias Sperling is a choreographer and performer working in London, originally from Canada. His work looks at close interactions between contemporary visual arts and the brain sciences, and has been presented in theatres and galleries internationally. Duet, Duet was performed at the Southbank Centre in 2010, and The Movers, a collaborative performance with Carlos Motta, was performed in The Tanks at Tate Modern in 2013. He also appeared in conversation with Guido Orgs at the Wellcome Collection last year to discussNow That We Know, as part of the exhibition States of Mind.

The show is also accompanied by a symposium – the Institute of Neurochoreography: First Open Congress, at 2.30pm on Friday 2 November. Speakers include neuroscientist Guido Orgs, artist and performance maker Choy Ka Fai and choreographer Colette Sadler, among others. Together, they envisage the first ‘official’ gathering for the fictional institute Sperling is imagining throughout the performance and his research.

For more information, see the press release and Matthias Sperling’s website

The Arts and The Brain: Psychology and Physiology Beyond Pleasure

arts and the brain

A whole new volume of Progress in Brain Research, edited by Julia F. Christensen & Antoni Gomila, devoted to the psychology and neuroscience of art:

Progress in Brain Research Volume 237, Pages 2-484 (2018)

The volume includes 22 chapters written by an amazing line-up of contributors:

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The Arts, Brain and Evolution
1. Art, Symbolism and the Evolution of the Brain
2. Emergence of early art and the evolution of human culture
3. On the interaction between cultural and biological evolutionary processes in generating artistic creativity

The Arts and Psychology
4. The nature of aesthetic experience of art
5. Art appreciation as an emotional process – beyond aesthetic experience
6. The Singular Experience: Characterizing the Emotional Response to Art Beyond Pleasure
7. An empirical paper on audience responses to film

The Arts and Physiology
8. Why we like what we like? Tracking the neurophysiological responses linked to aesthetic appreciation
9. The arts as a multisensory experience
10. Interceptive predictions and aesthetic relatedness to images
11. How artists represent visual processes

The Arts and the Brain
12. Art and Brain, and integrative overview
13. Seeking Salience in Engaging Art: A Short Story about Attention, Artistic Value, and Affective Neuroscience
14. New insights from the neuroscience of dance
15. Embodied aesthetics in the visual and the performing arts

The Arts and Biology
16. Music, dance and other art forms: new insights into the links between hedonia (pleasure) and eudaimonia (well-being)
17. A systematic review of the biological impact of music
18. Biology and aesthetics in music and the visual arts
19. Alexithymia, arts and health

Arts Expertise and learning
20. Developmental perspectives on the social and emotional role of music and dance
21. Music Education and the Brain
22. Dance learning among adolescents and young adults: Insights from brain imaging and behaviour
23. Is there a moral bettering through the arts?

 

See a preview of the book here!

The Arts and the Brain: Psychology and Physiology beyond Pleasure, Volume 237, combines the work of an excellent group of experts who explain evidence on the neural and biobehavioral science of the arts. Topics covered include the emergence of early art and the evolution of human culture, the interaction between cultural and biological evolutionary processes in generating artistic creation, the nature of the aesthetic experience of art, the arts as a multisensory experience, new insights from the neuroscience of dance, a systematic review of the biological impact of music, and more.

 

Congress of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics (IAEA)

The submission deadline for abstracts pertaining to talks/posters and the Art and Design Exhibition for the upcoming congress of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics (IAEA), scheduled to take place at the University of Toronto from 30 August to 2 September 2018, has been extended to 8 April 2018.

Consider submitting abstracts for talks/posters on any topic falling within the broad scope of the congress (e.g., creativity, aesthetics, psychology of the arts) for consideration in our program. In addition, you can also submit an abstract in support of presenting innovative art and/or design pieces for our Art and Design Exhibition.

For submission of abstracts please visit the congress website:

http://www.iaeatoronto2018.com/

The website includes important information regarding submission guidelines for each category.

If you have any question do not hesitate to write to IAEAToronto2018@gmail.com.