Experiencing Art: In the Brain of the Beholder

by Arthur Shimamura

Overview

How do we appreciate a work of art? Why do we like some artworks but not others? Is there no accounting for taste? Awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to explore connections between art, mind, and brain, Shimamura considers how we experience art. In a thoughtful and entertaining manner, the book explores how the brain interprets art by engaging our sensations, thoughts, and emotions. It describes interesting findings from psychological and brain sciences as a way to understand our aesthetic response to art. Beauty, disgust, surprise, anger, sadness, horror, and a myriad of other emotions can occur as we experience art. Some artworks may generate such feelings rather quickly, while others depend on thought and knowledge. Our response to art depends largely on what we know--from everyday knowledge about the world, from our cultural backgrounds, and from personal experience. Filled with artworks from many traditions and time points, "Experiencing Art" offers insightful ways of broadening one's approach and appreciation of art.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190240745
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/10/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	20 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Arthur P. Shimamura is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. He investigates human memory and cognition using neuroimaging techniques and studying individuals with memory disorders. Dr. Shimamura is a founding member of the Society for Cognitive Neuroscience, has been a scientific advisor for the San Francisco Exploratorium Science Museum, and received a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship to explore art, aesthetics and brain.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents Chapter 1: Overture Act I: The Art of Seeing Chapter 2: The Eye as Canvas, the Brain as Beholder Chapter 3. The Illusion of Form Chapter 4: Making a Scene Act II: The Art of Knowing Chapter 5. How Do You Know? Chapter 6: Remembrance of Past Things Chapter 7: You Are Cultured Act III: The Art of Feeling Chapter 8: Arousing Emotions Chapter 9: Body Language Chapter 10: I Know How You Feel Chapter 11: Coda

Editorial Reviews

"Shimamura has written the ideal introduction to what science can say about artworks, from prehistoric carvings to the latest video projections. It's readable, smart and informed. Better yet, it's a scientist's take that doesn't neglect the humanities: Shimamura cares about which neurons fire, but also about what Plato thought."
— Blake Gopnik, art critic, Newsweek and The Daily Beast

"Shimamura's engaging book Experiencing Art bridges the perceptual gap between aesthetics and neuroscience by illuminating how we actually see and, ultimately, how we come to understand works of art. The book rewards even the most art-savvy reader."
— Douglas Dreishpoon, Chief Curator, and Leslie Zemsky, President of Board of Directors, Albright-Knox Art Gallery

"A user-friendly introduction to the mainstream contemporary psychology of art." —Spanish Journal of Marketing-ESIC

From the Publisher