Decoding "art" Of course, it started with craft.
The craft of making a bowl or a tool or anything that created function. As humans became wealthier, we could seek out the artisan, the craftsperson who would add an element of panache and style to the tools we used. It's not much of a leap from the beautiful functional object to one that has no function other than to be beautiful. Art was born. The Age Of Insight. Eric Kandel is a titan of modern neuroscience.
He won the Nobel Prize in 2000 not simply for discovering a new set of scientific facts (although he has discovered plenty of those), but for pioneering a new scientific approach. As he recounts in his memoir In Search of Memory, Kandel demonstrated that reductionist techniques could be applied to the brain, so that even something as mysterious as memory might be studied in sea slugs, as a function of kinase enzymes and synaptic proteins.
(The memories in question involved the “habituation” of the slugs to a poke; they basically got bored of being prodded.) Because natural selection is a deeply conservative process – evolution doesn’t mess with success – it turns out that humans rely on almost all of the same neural ingredients as those inveterbrates. Memory has a nearly universal chemistry. LEHRER: The Age of Insight is, in part, a remarkable history of fin-de-siècle Vienna, which strikes me as an astonishingly rich creative period. Wired.com. Creating a "Fourth Culture" of Knowledge: Jonah Lehrer on Why Science and Art Need Each Other. A Painting of Cancer Cells Inspired by Carl Sagan.
By Maria Popova What supernovas have to do with cancer cells.
When she lost her friend Cathy to cancer, artist Michele Banks (whose stunning biological watercolors you might recall) set out to tell her friend’s story in the language she speaks most fluently and eloquently: painting. But she didn’t want it to be another “cancer painting.” Instead, she found unlikely inspiration at the intersection of the deadly disease and Carl Sagan’s iconic, life-affirming idea that we’re all made of “star stuff” — she saw a striking parallel between supernovas and dividing cancer cells. The result is simply breathtaking. I was reading about astronomer Carl Sagan, who often expressed the idea that humans are made of “star stuff”. Curiously, Sagan himself also had myelodysplastic syndrome, or “preleukemia,” and underwent three bone marrow transplants before losing the long and difficult fight in 1996.
William Utermohlen's Self-Portraits Of His Decline From Alzheimer's Disease. For over twelve years, William Utermohlen's mind slowly unraveled.
He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1995, and "from that moment on, he began to try to understand it by painting himself," said his wife, Patricia, to The New York Times. "My Favorite Artistic Advice" Tales Of Mere Existence. 5 timeless insights on fear and the creative process, how the aurora borealis works and more. Hey <<Name>>!
If you missed last week's edition – flowcharting your way to happiness, inside the haunting world of 19th-century mental institutions, how your nose works and more – catch up right here. And if you're enjoying this, please consider a modest donation. 5 Timeless Insights on Fear and the Creative Process From Monet to Tiger Woods, or why creating rituals and breaking routines don't have to be conflicting notions. "Creativity is like chasing chickens," Christoph Niemann once said.
Despite our best-argued cases for incremental innovation and creativity via hard work, the myth of the genius and the muse perseveres in how we think about great artists. When Art Heals. Music and Art – Good for Your Soul and Your Lifespan. Friedrich Neitzsche once claimed that without music, life would be a mistake.
Researchers in Norway claim that without music, art, or other cultural events, life may also be shorter and less satisfying. A new study, published by the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, reports that visiting museums, attending concerts, playing an instrument, and creating art are associated with happier lives. The investigators surveyed more than 51,000 adults to assess their leisure habits and cultural participation and their self-perceived health status and levels of depression and anxiety.
Overall, there was a strong correlation between engaging in cultural activities and happiness. The association was not affected by socioeconomic status or educational level. A gender difference was observed in the types of activities that men and women preferred. A previous study reported a similar association, extending the findings not just to happiness, but to overall lifespan. References. Home. Stinson Beach Bubbles (canon 550D) Why did Osama bin Laden build such a drab HQ? If the death of Osama bin Laden tells us anything it's that life isn't like a Bond movie.
Rather than running al-Qaida from some spectacular Ken Adam-designed lair under the ocean or inside a volcano, Bin Laden ended his days in an exceptionally ugly and ignoble townhouse – a bland, square, flat-roofed three-storey block with few windows or other features. Shy Muse Business Cards: Minimalistic: Zazzle.com Store. Ordenar: ¡Gracias!
