The brain is a plastic organ that changes frequently due to the creation of new connections (synapses) between the cells, which construct it. These synapses, estimated in many billions, are very flexible and dynamic components. Creativity, driven by imagination and thought, is a process in which new synapses are created in the human brain and changes the brain's activity pattern. This new activity reflects a new idea or image inside our brain. Observing art, also serves the possibility to discover and broaden the brain's potential by arousing new “brain states”, which are not experienced in our day to day lives. The artist who activates the viewers' brains in new ways and the brain scientist are strongly intertwined.
The Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences at The Hebrew University, which encourages multidisciplinary collaboration, came up with an exhibition that brings together artists and new research in the field of neuroscience. During 2015, a group of young artists joined forces with the center's researchers and started a journey of mutual creation. These collaborations raised interesting questions amongst the artists: What makes us creative? Is the world of a scientist similar to the world of an artist? How can an artist succeed in creating the desired image?
The bond created between the artists and the researchers yielded the exhibition “Between Synapses: Where Art and Brain Sciences Intersect”, currently displayed in the Jerusalem Artists' House. The exhibition curator, Michal Mor, offers a glimpse into the artists' studio rooms, the place where their creation is discovered and processed. Whether it's by a brushstroke, typing on a computer or pressing on a camera button, each of these artists offers his or her personal interpretation to the combination of science and art.
The audience is invited to take a glance at the work done behind the scenes, as well as to visit the exhibition, currently displayed in the Jerusalem Artists' House.
