In the USA and in most of the western hemisphere, appreciation for art is fading. However, in Paris, and in Europe in general, art is still greatly valued, so much that people, museums and careers all revolve around some form of art. As someone who has painted since she can remember, and has had art for all of her upbringing, coming to Europe has truly been refreshing. I have visited the Louvre, Grand Palais, Versailles, Musée de Art and Métiers, Musée de l’homme…you name it!
When the museum we want to visit is outside the scope of the class, me and my friends often struggle to agree on which museum to go to. We all have different preferences: some enjoy the very old historical art, some enjoy impressionism, and others enjoy more modern art such as Centre Pompidou. Although I like every forms of art, I find it interesting how I have different experiences with the distinct pieces. These observations became the clearest when I went to the Louvre with a group of friends. Here, we had trouble finding ourselves because in such a big museum, everyone wanted to go watch a different section. I wanted to go straight to the Mona Lisa, while my friend Gen wanted to visit a completely different wing.
After this excursion, several questions popped into my head: why is it that people enjoy museums, yet others don’t? Even more specifically, why do some people like certain museums more than others, describing a completely different experience after observing the same exact painting? We all share human brains, yet a combination between genes and development occurs that we end up with such different personalities, tastes and preferences.
A study by Vessel et al. 2013 found the default mode network (DMN) to be positively activated when participants rated artworks highly in an fMRI scanner. The DMN is mainly involved in tasks of self-referential thought or self-relevant information, especially during rest; so why would it be involved while experiencing external stimuli? They also found a lot of individual variability: each artwork was rated highly by some observers and poorly by others. The authors concluded that the DMN provides the individual a sense of being “moved” or “touched” by linking the artwork to their sense of identity and self-relevance. By looking at artworks in this manner, we can view such visual experiences in a much broader sense than we do now. I will definitely take this into account the next time I visit the Louvre!
Figure 1: The Mona Lisa at the Louvre
Figure 2: Me right before entering the enormous museum
Reference:
Vessel, E. A., Starr, G. G., & Rubin, N. (2013). Art reaches within: aesthetic experience, the self and the default mode network. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 7, 258.