In Conversation With Aarrti Zaveri
Q. How can art impact our brain?
A. Art is actually part of what historians deem necessary for a group of people to be considered a society! It enhances brain function by impacting brain wave patterns, emotions and the nervous system. Art can also raise serotonin level. These benefits don’t just come from making also but also by experiencing art. Art helps with the development of both; cognitive and physical skills. It improves your awareness, and can activate a variety of networks, such as a relaxed reflective state, focused attention, and pleasure Art also helps build a stronger focus among children and adults alike. By the aid of art in therapy anyone who is experiencing distress decrease anxiety and enhance coping skills, and those who are facing serious distress can be helped.
Q. How is art connected to science
A. Imagination, creativity and truth. Arts and science are similar in that they are expressions of what it is to be human in this world. Both are driven by curiosity, discovery, the aspiration for knowledge of the world or oneself. The subjects and methods have different traditions, and the intended audiences are different, but I think the motivations and goals are fundamentally the same.
Q What difference can art make in the life of a person who appreciates it and also those who don't?
A. Most visually intelligent people love art while people who cannot concentrate upon a single detail for more than 10 seconds cannot enjoy art. Art requires deep concentration upon it from beholders and deep thought about what the ambient light reflects from the art into their eyes. Not everyone is capable of spending more than a few seconds looking at anything. If it is not text on a cell phone, they are not remotely interested.
Only people who spend every minute using their minds and sensibilities know how to look at art and really see it. They spend all the time needed in order to translate and enjoy art’s message.
I would attribute this to lack of artistic education. They have never tried their hands at it, they have no idea of how hard it is to paint, to cite but one form of visual art, they don’t know how skilful you’ve got to be, how trained you have to be.
A person who cannot appreciate art most likely hasn’t had much experience with his/her own emotional expression. Art aids in opening up emotional blockages within a person. It’s a creative outlet that help release stress and anxiety.
Q. What are the future prospects of art as a career?
A. There is a list of opportunities in the field of art, given you have the appropriate skill, inclination and knowledge. Visual artist, gallery owner, curator, museum director or coordinator, photographer, art therapist, color consultant, the list is endless.
Q. How does colour therapy help someone who is stressed out?
A. Colours seems to have a profound effect of a person’s mood, very similar to weather changes. Visual art produces a lot of the same effects that music does as well. Colour therapy is based on the idea that colours create an electrical impulse in our brain, which stimulates hormonal and biochemical processes in our body. These processes either stimulate or calm us. General feelings on happiness and calmness can be found via color or art therapy. Many people use these benefits to quell distress and solve problems in their own lives. This effect is caused by being involved in something tangible.
The essence of art is its perceptibly imaginary nature, which reflects actual experiences, feelings and sentiments. And the mind being the target behind the idea of art as therapy, the same art can purify our sensual world through an artistic catharsis-on-canvas which could even ‘correct’ some of our psychological dispositions.
