Put away those sunglasses, because the heat and brightness depicted in the fiery Impressionist sun is nothing but an illusion, a well-kept secret of knowing artists, from Monet to da Vinci. And, by the way, yes, Mona Lisa is hiding something underneath her smile. Neuroscientist Margaret Livingstone of Harvard University Medical School revealed some of the science behind human visual perception of art.

Part of the human visual system consists of the 'colorblind' mammalian visual system (the same system found in cats and dogs). The mammalian visual system can see three dimensions, and recognize things that move (this is what we use to navigate our environment). As primates, humans also have an object recognition system that sees in color, recognizes faces and evaluates the environment. We use both systems simultaneously.

Artists like Monet understood this dichotomy in our visual processes and used it empirically to give the illusion of color and space. The two parts are sometimes called the 'where' and 'what' system. The 'where' system is the 'colorblind' part that allows us to orient objects spatially, whereas the 'what' system lets us recognize and evaluate them.

"I'm demystifying the procedures that some artists have known about for years, but not debunking their art in any way," she said. "These artists - the Impressionists, Da Vinci, Chuck Close, and Robert Silvers, for example-discovered fundamental truths that scientists are only now unraveling." >from *From da Vinci to Monet: Understanding how artists can manipulate the human visual system*, february 15, 2003

related context
> neuroscientists find brain's key to perceiving color. january 29, 2003
> eye gaze: implications for new-age technology. december 4, 2002
> living color:natural color helps our memory. may 8, 2002
> the magic of light: light art exhibition. february 8, 2002
> artwork and medical diagnostic skills: art as visual training to be a better observer . october 19, 2001

imago
> where + what

i see no one is commenting. for years indigenous amerindians have been working "with" the living earth (as well as other allegedly primordial non-western cultures). the concept of art will continue evolving with these meanings and ideas. it is good.

Color and light are two subjects on which near-death experiences reveal some hitherto unknown facts. One, the world/plane on "the other side," that is, after death has colors which people who have been there say don't exist on earth. They say they are very beautiful, some pastel, some brilliant, but can't be seen "on this side" of the veil. Another interesting fact is that the Light which is entered at the end of the tunnel (or without going through a tunnel for some) is extremely bright but does not hurt people's "eyes." This is the Light in which one feels part of everything that ever existed and which holds Love beyond human knowledge also. It is well known that some of the most creative artists are ones who had mystical visions or near-death experiences, so maybe they have tried to reproduce, and we are actually learning about, things that exist at the higher vibrational levels than humans currently perceive. It is thought by some that human DNA is evolving in that direction and that humans are becoming more sensitive to higher vibrational levels as we evolve.

A study suggests the oft-reported sensation of leaving the body during a brush with death may have a simple explanation in the body itself.

These "out-of-body" and "near-death" experiences - in which people resuscitated on the operating table speak of being drawn toward a brilliant light, or looking down on their own bodies - may be influenced by a portion of the brain misfiring under stress, the study suggests.

The study focuses on a processing center in the brain known as the angular gyrus, thought to play an important role in the way the brain analyzes sensory information to give us a perception of our own bodies. When it misfires, they speculate, the result can be visions of floating outside of ourselves.

"We do not fully understand the neurological mechanism that causes OBEs," conceded the study's lead researcher, neurologist Dr. Olaf Blanke at the University Hospitals of Geneva and Lausanne in Switzerland. From 'Out-of-body' sensation linked to brain stress. September 19, 2002
http://hubel.sfasu.edu/courseinfo/articles/out_of_body.html

More recently, "Out-of-body experience and autoscopy of neurological origin" by Olaf Blanke, Theodor Landis, Laurent Spinelli and Margitta Seeck. Brain, Vol. 127, No. 2, 243-258, February 2004
http://brain.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/127/2/243