Neurons and Other Memories

Curated by Patricia Maurides in collaboration with the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition. 'Neurons and Other Memories' gathered together the work of artists and scientists whose investigations offer a bridge between and among the Fine Arts and Neuroscience or Neuropsychology. Four hand coloured micrographs of seeds were developed for the exhibition.

Exhibition text:

Rob Kesseler

Rumia crithmifolia ventral view
(Apiaceae), 2006

Rumia crithmifolia dorsal view
(Apiaceae), 2006

Castilleja flava
(Yellow Indian Paintbrush), 2008

Codonocarpus cotonifolius
(Desert poplar), 2005

Hand coloured SEM, archival pigment prints.

Pattern is an essential characteristic of human evolution, our brains are wired to identify and map a range of patterns as a way of navigating the environments we inhabit. It aids spatial awareness and conversely it is used by animals in the form of camouflage which disrupts pattern. It is a human trait for us to use pattern and the way it influences form as a way of likening and distinguishing one object from another. This was highlighted by Shakespeare in Hamlet:

Hamlet: Do you see yonder cloud that’s almost in shape of a camel?
Polonius: By th’ Mass, and ‘tis like a camel, indeed.
Hamlet: Methinks it is like a weasel.
Polonius: It is backed like a weasel.
Hamlet: Or like a whale.
Polonius: Very like a whale.
So methinks it looks like a brain!

The artist would like to thank the Royal Botanic Garden Kew, Wolfgang Stuppy and
Papadakis Publisher London for their support in the development of the work.

• Organisation
• http://millergallery.cfa.cmu.edu/exhibit...