Week 7: Neurosci + Art

Carl Jung developed a theory of the unconscious employing the concept of the archetype. Archetypes are the psychic innate dispositions to experience that constitute the structure of the collective unconscious. Archetypes are found in all cultures, and in dreams and visions. Every human being is endowed with the psychic archetype layer from his or her birth (1). Humans have always had archetypes, but according to Jung “[m]odern man has lost all the metaphysical certainties of his medieval brother” having lost touch with religion (2).

Victoria Vesna Week 7 Lecture, Part 2

Carl Jung also argued that the unconscious could be a source of creativity (1). This is evident in a lot of art that is dreamlike and inspired by dreams. One of my favorite artists who paints dream-like scenes is Salvador Dali. Major themes in his work include dreams, the subconscious, sexuality, religion, science, and his closest personal relationships (3).

Salvador Dali The Hallucinogenic Toreador

One way to experience archetypes is in dreams. Another is through meditation. A third, less ideal way that is kind of a short cut and comes with physically damaging effects to the body, is “chemical intervention” (4). The art culture is famous for experimenting with mind-altering, archetype-accessing neurotoxins.

As mentioned by Daniel Jay in his presentation NEUROSCIENCE + ART, artists have always been tapping into neuroscience without knowing it. The parietal cortex establishes 3-D images by noting linear perspective, relative size and motion, occlusion, shading, aerial perspective, and stereopsis, and all these techniques are used by artists (Jay NEUROSCIENCE + ART). Also pointed out by Daniel Jay, Einstein said, “the best scientists are also artists” (Jay NEUROSCIENCE + ART).

Google Images Einstein

Works Cited

(1) Vesna, Victoria, Week 7 Lecture, Part 2. Accessed on May 18, 2024.

(2) Jung, C. G., Dell, W. S., & Baynes, C. F. (2024). THE SPIRITUAL PROBLEM OF MODERN MAN. In Modern Man in Search of a Soul. Illustrated. Tovarystvo z obmezhenoiu vidpovidalnistiu "Vydavnychyi soiuz "Andronum.

(3) Dalí, S. (2024, May 12). Salvador Dalí. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD

(4) Frazzetto, G., & Anker, S. (2009). Neuroculture. Nature Reviews. Neuroscience, 10(11), 815–821. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2736

(5) Jay, Daniel. NEUROSCIENCE + ART. Accessed on May 18, 2024.


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