Art and its incredible effects on mind - An insight
Author: Meena Chopra(Author, Artist Educator)
Art House for Kids-Art
as healer
has always improved the quality of life and mind giving a third dimension to
the human personality in many ways. Art as a
medium to explore life within and without has always given immense enjoyment to
human mind from ages.
Music, dance, painting and other forms of art have shown to have an
incredibly significant and positive effect on children and adults both.
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| Starry Night by Van Gogh |
Art therapy has been used to awaken the senses of
underprivileged children through both the viewing and creating of art by them. Through
their artistic endeavours they subconsciously associate themselves with their
past. A connectivity is developed within and the memories come more freely from
the deeper self since they are not elicited by direct objects, but indirect subconscious
thought levels.
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| Sun Flower by Van Gogh |
Because of many past experiences which get embedded
deep down in the memory lane, many children begin to develop nervousness,
anxiety, sleeping excessive or too little, a lack of verbal, social and
language skills. Depending on the colour within a piece or its shape, or due
to some other quality of the artwork, different emotions can be evoked by the
observer unknowingly. Awakening of the senses through experimentation with the
different types of art these children experience an untapped emotional world
within themselves and with this association with their own inner being, they
are able to show increased abilities in their cognitive, motor and social
skills.
Many of the most famous pieces in the Pop art movement have utilized popular
advertisements that could be easily tied to past memories. Pop art is known
very well for its use of bright, vibrant colours.
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| Piccaso - Woman with Fan |
Pop art is specifically tied to nostalgic thoughts
since many of these works utilize old comics, food wrappers, advertisements and
other types of art that people may recognize from past events in their lives.
Pop art is especially useful in helping evoke past memories by getting
down to stream of consciousness and gain insight through the use of bright colours.
Nostalgic undertones, emotions and feelings surrounding past events can be
easily conjured up and come on the surface of mind through the study of Pop
art.
According to a 2010 study conducted by researchers
at the Emory University School of Medicine, viewing paintings as opposed to
photographs of similar objects evoked more of a sense of reward within the
brain. Participants in the study were shown pieces from different artists
such as Van Gogh and Picasso, and then they were showed photographs that
depicted very similar objects. When they studied the brains of
the participants through imaging technology, the ventral striatum, which is
part of the reward system, became more strongly activated when the participant
saw a painting rather than a photograph of a similar object. Even though
momentarily, the memories they experience have shown to increase positive moods
and improve their quality of life.
Pop art, for example, impacts different people in
different ways. Clearly different aspects of art and the participation in the
arts can have a profound and positive effect on the human mind and also give it
a direction. Most forms of art are able to impact the human mind in one way or another
Art with its strong ties to commercial consumerism has a power to evoke emotion
in people. For that matter not only Pop art but any kind of can be used to help
stimulate the recesses of the mind there by help in the process of resolving
issues which are reflecting in the real life.
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| Beatles |
Bright yellows often evoke a feeling of happiness, which is a very common color in Pop art pieces. For example, if someone is dealing with a childhood trauma, memories from childhood can help them figure out exactly what happened and how to move past it.
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| Self-Portrait, Spring 1887, Oil on pasteboard, 42 × 33.7 cm., Art Institute of Chicago (F 345). (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Utilizing art to delve into past memories can be
very therapeutic for many different reasons. Alzheimer's patients are
often involved in music therapy, which has shown to help them recover and
reconnect with the past memories therefore acting as a healer and giving a
positive impact to the mind towards its improvement and wellbeing.
What is most important is to explore
the impact that art has on the human mind and figure out how to positively
harness the impact and minimize any negativity.
Author: Meena Chopra(Author, Artist Educator)
Author: Marlin Rollins-Can you draw a straight line? Most adults don't consider themselves artistic. Parents do, however, worry about their toddler's art abilities. As a child care provider for the past 10 years, I've had many discussions with parents about 'how their toddler is doing' as far as getting ready for preschool or kindergarten. They worry a lot about the final product of their toddler's art projects. I try to explain to them that art is not just knowing how to draw a flower or a puppy, or whether or not little Jason colors in the lines. Little kids need to experience self-expression and the 'doing of art' more than having a page from a coloring book to hang on the refrigerator. 