Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum Science Tuesday: Consciousness Through Art

smithsonian_latino_centerBy Melissa Carrillo and Marissa Morales, SLC Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum

Art isn’t something I usually tie together with science experiments, but one such assignment does. Performance artists Marina Abramovic has created an art installation and science experiment that tests consciousness through art.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York has recently played science lab to artists Marina Abramovic. The installation consisted of a plain wooden chair with the artist sitting and not moving. Guests were invited to stare into the artists eyes for any amount of time. The experiment yielded various results such as simply staring, smiles, and tears. The experiment lasted for two and a half months and Abramovic had collaborated with a neuroscientist. This collaboration consisted of an EEG strapped to her head and was meant to track brain waves. Abramovic has a goal to bring science and the arts together.

Scientist Christof Koch spoke on the matter as well. He believes this type of experimentation brings new possibilities for a completely new branch of science which would be called social neuroscience. This type of science would give insight on social interactions. This brings in issues of the way we see people and the way people have different feelings on privacy and intimacy.

You can read more about this story and the interview on NPR as well as the moma site:

http://www.npr.org/2013/08/16/212613891/experimenting-on-consciousness-through-art

http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2010/marinaabramovic/

This article was first published in smithsonianlvm.tumblr.com.

[Photo courtesy SLC Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum]

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