This past week I went to the Reuben H. Fleet Science museum and attended the Illusion exhibit. Many of these illusions correlate with what we learned this week about the intersection of neuroscience and art. The top three experiments that really stood out to me were: All of the Universe is Full of the Lives of Perfect creatures, Delicate Boundaries, and lastly the very famous piece called Supermajor. All of these experiments play with the person’s mind. The mind is deceived and that is why the audience is confused about what happens; and ultimately they undergo an optical illusion.
In the first piece of work called All of the Universe is Full of the Lives of Perfect creatures, seen in a picture below, the person looks into a mirror and is transformed into their “inner animal.” In the interactive mirror, the viewer’s movements and expressions are imitated by the animal. There is a different animal every time a new person goes in front of the mirror. This project can be related to neural mechanisms, and also demonstrates the theory of cooperative behavior of facial expressions. This also shows that people have an unconscious way of communicating with each other through their expressions. The mirror neurons in a person's brain are activated when they watch someone performing an action, and then they try to mirror it. These mirror neurons show that people map facial features of others into their own brain. This shows the intersection that neuroscience and art display, because the mind affects facial expressions which can be considered a form of artwork.
The next piece of art that I thought was very interesting in this exhibit was Delicate Boundaries. This piece was an interactive installation of a world of small digital bugs on a computer screen. As visitors approach, the bugs swarm towards their hand; but also if they press on the screen with their palms up, the bugs crawl onto their skin, and up the person’s hand. Obviously, the bugs are fake but it messes with the visitor’s mind between what is truly real and virtual. This part of the exhibit is also one that deals with the intersection of neuroscience and art. (as well as technology) This confuses the viewers' mind of what is real, and the concept of illusion perception of technology. People do not expect seeing the screen, that something will eventually come out. This piece deals with the viewers acknowledging the digital space, in relation to physical space. This shows that with growing technology, and in today's changing digital world, the visions of reality could perhaps be altered in the future of art and technology.
Lastly, the famous piece of work called Supermajor was another part of the exhibit that I really enjoyed. This art piece had a very interesting set up: there was a light over six vintage oil cans, where one of them looked like oil was pouring out onto a pedestal below. However, when one looks closely the oil is not really pouring out, but actually going back into the can. This artwork plays with the minds of the viewers: it forces the viewers to compare what their eyes see and what they know should be true. This optical illusion plays with our mind. It sounds like there is something dripping down, but it is really just the mind that is telling the eyes that oil is dripping down because it looks like it. This artwork again displays the intersection of neuroscience and art, because the mind is telling us one thing; while the piece of artwork is actually displaying something else.
Here is evidence that I attended the Illusion exhibit at the Reuben H. Fleet Science museum.
Citations
"All the Universe Is Full of the Lives of Perfect Creatures." Karolina Sobecka RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 July 2014.
"COMING SOON: ILLUSION at SCIENCE GALLERY." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 19 July 2014.
"ILLUSION at Science Gallery Dublin - Rua - Irish Magician | Deception Artist | Illusionist | Escapologist N.p., n.d. Web. 19 July 2014.
"ILLUSION." Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 July 2014.
"This Mind-Boggling Installation Breaks The Laws Of Physics--Or Does It?" Co.Design. Web. 19 July 2014.
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