Aesthetics and Art in the Brain: Introduction to Neuroaesthetics and Neuroart

Our most important brain ability is to ‘imagine’ what does not exist. The first condition for being able to think about the relationship between aesthetics and art and our brain is to ponder how an animal-biological organ, which we are taught through biology lessons to operate only under the guidance of existing reality and objects, can function at the level of imagining what does not exist from the knowledge of what exists..

Aesthetics and art form examples of the two-stage human brain function that we achieve with our brain in the transition from the world of existing things to the world of non-existent things in this pondering. Aesthetics, which forms the first stage, constitutes a starting point from the world of the ‘existing’ towards the other end. Because Aesthetics comes from the ancient Greek word aisthesis, meaning to feel, to perceive. It deals with the creation and evaluation of beauty. In the language of brain science, this is the creation and evaluation of the concept of beauty using our brain, or rather, thanks to our brain, which is the part of our existence related to feeling and perception. In other words, aesthetics is the result of the first stage we establish with the impressions of what exists on the path towards art.

Art, in its most general sense, is understood as the expression of creativity and imagination directed towards what does not exist, which is not yet at the stage of aesthetic sensation or in relation to what exists. The prefix “Neuro” added to the concepts of aesthetics and art indicates that the precursors of these two concepts also exist in our structure, that this existence is provided by our brain, and that this existential relationship can be disrupted by various brain diseases. The change in artist William Utermohlen’s art due to Alzheimer’s disease, which is shown on the front cover of the book, is one of the most striking examples of this relationship.

Book Information:
 

ISBN: 978-605-9596-64-0

Print Run: 1st Edition

Language: Turkish

Size: 16 x 24 cm

Number of Pages: 229

Publisher: Üsküdar Üniversitesi Yayınları - 59