Science and Art

I just finished a book that deals with connections between art and science, and I thought I would share it. Its called An Anthropologist on Mars and its by Oliver Sacks who is a neurologist. It is a group of seven case studies dealing with how neurological disorders can affect creativity. One of the case studies is of a painter and how he loses his sight after a car crash. It touches on how it changes his art and his perception of the world. What is interesting is that the man's visual memory changes to the point where he can't imagine te world in color but only in different shades of gray. It talks a lot about how much color infiltrates art, even in the undertones of black and white works, and how color is sort of taken for granted. Another story is about an accomplished child artist who has autism. This story touches on the idea that different neurological disorders produce their own unique type of art. The book is a really easy read and I would suggest it to anyone that is curious about how the brain, and its disorders, affect the concept of art.