Inner Vision an Exploration of Art and the Brain, by...

Inner Vision: an Exploration of Art and the Brain, by Semir Zeki Is artistic expression intertwined with the inner workings of the brain more than we would ever have imagined? Author and cognitive neuroscientist Semir Zeki certainly thinks so. Zeki is a leading authority on the research surrounding the visual brain. In his book Inner Vision, he ventures to explain to the reader how our brain actually perceives different works of art, and seeks to provide a biological basis for the theory of aesthetics. With careful attention to details and organization, he manages to explain the brain anatomy and physiology involved when viewing different works of art without sounding impossibly complicated – a definite plus for scientists and†¦show more content†¦After hearing this idea, I was very surprised and excited to see that Zeki had actually devoted all of chapter 3 to dispelling the myth of the seeing eye. Here he specifically points out that a painter does not paint with her eye; she paints with her brain (13). I was especially pleased t hat Zeki made this point, since we so easily forget that the eye is merely the organ through which the brain receives filtered input from the outside world. While it is true that our ability to see depends on the eye and the brain working hand in hand, and damage in either one will ultimately affect the other, only the brain is capable of transforming the necessary input or output so that we are able to see the painting before us. The eye only serves to transmit these signals from the outside world, to the brain, and back again. We only tend to think that people see with their eyes because of well-meaning but incorrect figures of speech commonly spoken in society (13-14). For example, we may hear something like she has a good eye for painting ocean scenes or she eyes the angle of the Golden Gate Bridge just right – look how well she can sketch every line and curve on paper. Hearing statements such as these very often will eventually mislead us into thinking that it is only wi th the eye that one sees. Another hotly debated issue within our class is if the brain does really equal behavior. Up until I read this book, I had always beenShow MoreRelatedOPTICAL ILLUSIONS: The Art of Deception of Perception Essay1709 Words   |  7 Pagesin Paris, Festival of 30 June 1878(Figure 3), which illustrates a scene of a festive street, but most people do not connect Monet’s Rue Montorgueil in Paris, Festival of 30 June 1878 with optical illusions. They fail to realize that all art is an optical illusion. A painting is really nothing more than one great optical illusion, â€Å"something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality† (Optical illusion 1). When you look at a painting you see a scene