Neuroesthetics Talk Series: Christoph Redies (Jena)
The Fourier power spectra of subsets of aesthetic art, other visually pleasing images and natural scenes share a specific statistical property. On average, they are scale invariant (fractal-like), which means that the relative prominence of coarse structure and fine detail remains constant for different image scaling. In contrast, real-world photographs of objects, faces, plants and scientific illustrations have Fourier power spectra that deviate from scale invariance. Moreover, art images possess more uniform scale invariance across image orientations than comparable real-world photographs. These results suggest that subsets of aesthetic images display luminance contrast statistics that are more pronounced than those of real-world image categories. The significance of these findings with regard to sensory coding in the visual system will be discussed. Christoph Redies is Professor and Director at the Institute of Anatomy, University of Jena School of Medicine. Together with Joachim Denzler from the Institute of Informatics, University of Jena, he studies statistical regularities in art images and other image categories. This research attempts to identify universal properties of art images that relate to the basic principles of sensory coding in the human visual system. In other research, Christoph Redies studies the molecular basis of neural circuit formation during vertebrate brain development. Besides his scientific work, he has a long-standing interest in the visual arts and pursues abstract painting as his hobby. All are welcome!
Neuroesthetics Talk Series
This talk is part of a series of public events organized by the the Association of Neuroesthetics in collaboration with the Berlin School of Mind and Brain and the Institut für Raumexperimente (Studio Olafur Eliasson).The sciences, the humanities and the arts approach the natural world and our experience of it from different perspectives. Although traditionally considered separate disciplines, the desire for more holistic understandings has intensified the exchange between them. “Neuroesthetics” is one such node of interdisciplinary exchange, bridging various approaches to questions of art and human experience. On the one hand, rapid development in the neurosciences have produced an extensive database of insight that can further our understanding of both artistic appreciation and the processes of creativity. On the other, artists and those in the humanities continually engage with questions of experience, value and knowledge and their expertise is becoming increasingly relevant to scientific explorations aiming to understand these vital human characteristics. The European Association of Neuroesthetics, which is based in Berlin, has been founded to promote this exciting dialogue and lasting cooperation between the arts and the sciences. Building on the belief that both the arts and neuroscience have purchase on understandings of the human condition, a public talk series together with the Berlin School of Mind and Brain (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), and the Institut für Raumexperimente (Studio Olafur Eliasson) was launched. At (roughly) monthly talks speakers from various disciplines will be invited to present their work. The events are intended as a platform for dialogue – linking artists, scientists and scholars –as well as a space for interdisciplinary research to be presented and shared publicity. www.association-of-neuroesthetics.org/
www.mind-and-brain.de
www.raumexperimente.net/
