Researchers say a better understanding of what happens in the brain when people experience art and creativity would offer benefits far beyond the art world. A leader in the field of neuroaesthetics brings it to the public Saturday with a collaborative performance at the Glassell School of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Jose Luis Contreras-Vidal, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Houston, is working with Houston Latina artist Geraldina Interiano Wise on the project, which begins at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Contreras-Vidal and members of his lab previously have worked with dancers, visual artists, musicians and others, using mobile brain-body imaging technologies to capture brain activity in real time.
The live painting performance incorporates brain-body imaging technology and artificial intelligence to produce a generative digital painting as Wise paints.
It will be followed by a question-and-answer period.
Contreras-Vidal said the goal isn’t just to produce an ah-ha moment but to consider bigger questions, including whether a symbiosis of artificial intelligence and neuroengineering can redefine human creativity, as well as whether the data collected can be used to improve traditional art therapy models and promote overall wellbeing.
WHAT: “The Nahual Project,” a collaboration between University of Houston engineer
Jose Luis Contreras-Vidal and artist Geraldina Interiano Wise, using brain-body
imaging technology and artificial intelligence to map the creative process.
WHEN: 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, November 9
WHERE: The Glassell School of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
5101 Montrose Blvd, Houston, TX 77006
MEDIA CONTACT: Jeannie Kever, 713-743-0778, jekever@uh.edu.