Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This author has a good knowledge of his subject. His earlier book is wonderful with insight. This book is a revamp of that material with a summary of some recent research. For my needs the first book is more to my taste.
Click Here to see more reviews about: The Psychology of Art and the Evolution of the Conscious Brain (Mit Press/Bradford Books Series in Cognitive Psychology)
How did the human brain evolve so that consciousness of art coulddevelop? In The Psychology of Art and the Evolution of the Conscious Brain, RobertSolso describes how a consciousness that evolved for other purposes perceives andcreates art.Drawing on his earlier book Cognition and the Visual Arts and ten yearsof new findings in cognitive research (as well as new ideas in anthropology and arthistory), Solso shows that consciousness developed gradually, with distinctcomponents that evolved over time. One of these components is an adaptiveconsciousness that includes the ability to imagine objects that are not present--anability that allows us to create (and perceive) visual art.Solso describes theneurological, perceptual, and cognitive sequence that occurs when we view art, andthe often inexpressible effect that a work of art has on us. He shows that there aretwo aspects to viewing art: nativistic perception--the synchronicity of eye andbrain that transforms electromagnetic energy into neuro-chemical codes--which is"hard-wired" into the sensory-cognitive system; and directed perception, whichincorporates personal history and knowledge--the entire set of our expectations andpast experiences. Both forms of perception are part of the appreciation of art, andboth are products of the evolution of the conscious brain over hundreds of thousandsof years.Solso also investigates the related issues of neurological and artisticperception of the human face, the effects of visual illusions, and the use ofperspective. The many works of art used as examples are drawn from a wide range ofartistic traditions, from ancient Egypt to Africa and India and the EuropeanRenaissance.
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