For the last three months I have been taking part in Nicholas Wilton's Creative Visionary Program. As part of this course Nicholas interviewed Ivy Ross who is Vice president of Design at Google and co author of “Your Brain on Art”. She had some fascinating insights on the benefits of creating as well as observing art which I wanted to share with you.
Ivy notes that many people have abandoned the arts. People who loved to create as children but who were told, "that's not the way you draw a tree” or “that's not good enough” or ”you'll never make money at that.”
In her book Your Brain on Art she provides the science behind the fact that we are literally wired physically and psychologically to be engaged in the arts. The arts being an all encompassing term to include visual arts, dancing, singing, painting even architecture.
Ivy invites us to look back to indigenous tribes. They didn't even have a word for art because singing, dancing, storytelling and cave painting through graphics was simply life.
She explains that since the industrial revolution, society has tried to optimise productivity and efficiency and has put the arts aside. Yet the arts is a natural part of being a human being.
We are sensory beings. There is a wonderful quote by Jill Bolte Taylor that says “most of us think of ourselves as thinking creatures that feel, but we are actually feeling creatures that think” .
We have 30,000 sensory systems on the tip of each finger. We are designed to take in the world through texture, colours, smell and shape. That’s why being in nature is so good for us. It contains colour, light, shape, temperature and smell. Everything that alivens our sensory systems.
Ivy says we need two things order to flourish. First, we need to express ourselves and second, we need to make new neuro connections.
She explains that we have microtraumas every day and we're holding all of this in. What the arts allow us to do in the smallest of ways is to express ourselves. Even if it's writing something down. Apparently even writing a secret down, not telling it to anyone but just by writing it, lowers the cognitive load that your brain is carrying.
When we get into what is referred to as “flow state” literally billions of neurons are making new connections and your brain is firing. Flow state occurs when we’re making new discoveries e.g. how does this colour look on top of that, how does that texture speak to this texture? In a nutshell, it occurs when we are being curious. When we experience that sense of wonder. That sense of being free.
Take doodling. Some of us had our hands slapped in school for doodling but it turns out that if you're doodling whilst listening to someone talk, your brain actually retains what’s being said better.
You don't need to be an artist to enjoy its benefits. Beholding art also has an extremely positive impact on us.
Many of my paintings try to capture the feeling of a place. I am an ocean lover and many of paintings are inspired by this love. One of the concepts of neuroesthetics is salient experiences. These are experiences that you have an emotional response to. For example, the moment that you saw a breathtaking sunset or you watched the waves crash over the beach.
Having art in your home that triggers the memory of a salient experience is SO good for your well being. It could even be a shape or a colour, but if every time you walk past it reminds you of the experience that made you feel so alive, it will improve your well being.
So now we have the science to back up our love of art!
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