Why do you react more strongly to a red painting than to a blue one? And why is looking at art so pleasant? Brain scientist Dick Swaab, who recently published the book Our creative brain after the bestseller We are our brain, explains what happens in your brain when you look at art during a lecture in the Groninger Museum.
Your brain takes over the artist's emotion
When you look at a painting, your brain takes over the emotion that the artist wanted to convey with his work. According to Dick Swaab, this takeover of emotions is caused by the so-called mirror neurons. Swaab: "With that we can supplement what the other means, but also what the artist meant by his work." This effect was also visible when a study of art in a psychiatric institution showed that paintings strongly influence the mood of the patients. “When there was a threatening painting by Van Gogh or Jackson Pollock on the wall, more anti-anxiety drugs were required and people were restless. The opposite was found in a Savanna landscape with some animals, forests and hills. Then less medication was requested than normal. ”
Your brain likes exaggerations
Think of sculptures of extremely muscular Greek gods or women with large curves. “Exaggeration sends a clear signal, we like that,” says Swaab. "The exaggeration in art has a biological basis." Swaab explains this with an experiment in which you teach a dog that he gets food when he sees a triangle and not when he sees a circle. "If you then give him the choice between a small triangle and a large triangle, he will immediately go to the large triangle."
Your brain reacts strongly to red
Your brain reacts more strongly to a work of art if it contains red. “The color red provides stimulation and excitement,” explains Swaab. The cause of this strong reaction lies in evolution. “Because of the color red, we used to be able to see from a distance which fruit was ripe. That gave us excitement, because it was edible and we could rely on that. ” This stimulating effect is used not only in art, but also in medicine: “We also use it with placebos. Placebos are pills that have no active ingredient, but a color. If you give someone a red placebo, it has a stimulating effect on the patient, while blue or green pills actually calm them down. ”
Your brain rewards looking at beautiful works of art
“When we like something, the reward system in the brain releases dopamine,” explains Swaab. According to him, this reward system arises from the basic necessities of life. "The system was originally linked to things that are important to survival, such as food and sex." Although art is not a primitive need, your system does respond to beautiful works of art. “Because,” says Swaab, “the link also exists for derivative things that you like, like or enjoy. Art is also included. This pairing has been extremely successful. Just look around you: many fat people and far too many people in this world. ”
Note: This article has been translated using Google Translate