[go back] … our psychosomatic response to art. Vittorio Gallese discussed ‘mirror neurons’ and their role in the aesthetic experience. Active in both our visual and motor centers, these neurons discharge whether we perform an action (grasping a bottle, for example) or simply observe a two-dimensional image of that action. According to Gallese, this means that ‘a still-life is really a moving life, at least in the brain of the perceiver.’
While the scientists had obviously drawn much inspiration from art, what might the rest of us learn from them? ‘What’s in it for you?’ Kandel asked the creative personalities on the panel. Philip Taaffe seemed to speak for his colleagues when he replied, ‘I am beginning to wonder what I’m doing here, even though I’m enjoying the proceedings enormously.’ Arthur Danto, moderator of the final session, echoed the sentiment: ‘I feel that almost nothing that’s been raised came close to anything I’m interested in.’ Some felt the scientists had been accorded too much deference. ‘We didn’t have equal treatment, we didn’t have the same possibility and time to show our work,’ observed Marina Abramovic. Laurie Anderson finally asked, ‘What are we trying to prove here?’ When Danto declined to answer, the event’s sponsor, Louise Blouin McBain, rose from the audience and ascended the podium to get the conversation back on point. Despite her efforts, the long day ended on a sour note, and one couldn’t help feeling that the bridge between art and science is still very much under construction.”
