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 DENNIS M
DAKE "THE NEUROBIOLOGY OF ARTISTIC THOUGHT AND
RESEARCH"
Dennis M. Dake is Professor of Art and Design
at Iowa State University. Professor Dake received his BA in
art from Upper Iowa University and his MA in painting and
printmaking from the University of Northern Iowa. He has
written about the connections between creativity and brain
research with his most recent publication being chapters on
“Aesthetic Theory” and “Creative Visualization” in the
Handbook of Visual Communication: Theory and Methods
published by Lawrence Erlbaum. In addition to his writing
about the art and science of visual literacy, Professor Dake
has had many exhibits of his art work.
Art and Science have long been recognized as
parallel disciplines, useful in exploring the world around
us. Although in popular culture they are commonly perceived
as separate and unique in their approaches, these two
disciplines share more in methodology and common human
mental activity than is commonly acknowledged.
This talk will explore some of the
neurological processes of the brain which are foundational
for visual arts research and, if functionally understood,
could contribute to greater creativity and insightfulness
for scientific and other researchers. Rather than focusing
on the idiosyncratic activities of individual artists, this
presentation will suggest that recent discoveries in brain
research make clear that common productive mental processes
underlie artistic research and productive behaviors in other
disciplines.
The presentation will illustrate
with published scientific findings and examples of artistic
working methods that visual and creative thought processes
of professional visual arts research are common to and
therefore ultimately productive for all humans.
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