Beauty is within the eye of the beholder? A novel research project spearheaded by the University of Leicester and part-funded with the Leverhulme Trust seeks to shed new light on the way people perceive artwork. By bringing together an artist and a neuroscientist, both disciplines seek to learn from each other concepts of visual notion.
In the process of the research, both musician and scientist are getting new insights into what truly lies in the eye of the beholder. Rodrigo Quian Quiroga, Neuroscientist and Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Leicester is working with renowned Argentinean artist Mariano Molina to assess the connections between art and visual perception- and what sort of brain processes these images. Mariano Molina’s residency in the Department of Engineering at the University of Leicester will result in a public exhibition jointly drawing art and research in a public space.
One thing we’ve been exploring collectively is the different ways people process high frequencies in artwork (detail the truth is up close) and low frequencies (the entire effect you observe when you stand back again from a picture). As part of the extensive research, Mariano Molina has worked with an optical eye tracker to find out how people perceive images. I am finding out about the way neurons represent images and I am currently looking for connections between art and visual illusions.
Now, that I’m needs to understand how the mind works and understand things I could try to use this knowledge in my painting. … Read more