What can art tell us about consciousness?
Photo of “My Last Nerve: Pinpointing the Neural Correlates of Consciousness”
The Art & Consciousness Project First Post
Information on the Artist’s Creative Process to be collected here: NoumenArts DataNet
This project will focus on the artmaking process as opposed to the art viewing process [except where viewing becomes necessary to art making]. This is at bottom an attempt to make methodical the organizing of my thoughts with the hopes of having an interdisciplinary final product [web: images, audio, video, etc. along with text].
Artist Statement
My brain works in strange ways…at least so it seems to me. This has created situations that have affected my psychology and emotional development in a subtly complicated fashion. I am sure a trained psychologist would straighten me out in no time.
However, I’m an artist. This means two things:
- I could never afford enough psychotherapy and
- I suppose I make art because of some trouble communicating…it’s just easier for me to pound on steel.
In working I try to figure things out, specifically the process itself and what drives me to make art. Building upon the premise that there is some commonality (a basic psychological premise) between human beings, I believe that a personal investigation of my creative process will lead to some, hopefully concrete, information about what drives us as thinking beings.
Tonietta A. Walters has a Specialized B.A. in Art and Philosophy and a M.A. in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Art & Cognitive Science, both from Florida International University. She is a member of Mensa and was the 1978 recipient of the JAG Smith Jamaican Government Scholarship for the highest score on the National Common Entrance Exam. Her work in art is an investigation of her psyche in an attempt to resolve the conflicts between her culturally ingrained sense of self and externally imposed concepts of identity. Her academic work involves investigation of the intersection of art, religion and cognitive science.
