[BIC-announce] Reaching Beyond The Obvious: Brain Art Exposition [Wed-April 5 to Thu-May 26; Opening Vernissage on Wed-Apr-5 from 4 to 6 pm; Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal]

[MRS Lab Coordinator]

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Run: Wed-April 5 to Thu-May 26
Opening Vernissage : Wed-Apr-5 from 4 to 6 pm

CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l 'Île-de-Montréal
Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal
4565, chemin Queen-Mary, Montréal

Oeuvres de/Works by :
Sara Ambrosino, Emmanuela Ambrosino, AmanPreet Badhwar, Pierre Bellec, Maxime Chamberland, Maxime Descoteaux, Simon Drouin, David Fortin, Katja Heuer, Crean Quaner, Michel Thiebaut de Schotten, Roberto Toro, Josefina Maranzano

Overall, the brain is the most complex object known in the universe - known, that is, to itself. - E.O. Wilson

The paradox of trying to fully understand the brain through the best tool we have available - the brain itself - is one that permeates every aspect of neuroscience and yet does nothing to stop us from trying. Instead, it challenges us to reach beyond the obvious and take inspiration from other disciplines in the hopes of making small steps towards an almost unfathomable scientific problem.

Basic neuroscientific pursuits such as the study of brain microstructure (structures invisible to the naked eye) through histological methods result in images that have been appreciated for their raw aesthetic beauty since the late 19th century drawings of Ramon y Cajal. Such images are incredibly complex at the level of single cells, and require creative solutions to understand in relation to the brain as a whole. Contrary to this, modern neuroimaging techniques result in data that describe the brain at the macrostructural level (visible to the naked eye), but are difficult to make sense of due to their high dimensionality, often encompassing information about both time and space. With recent advances in the quality and resolution of such techniques, understanding the complexity of the resulting data is one of the biggest challenges in neuroscientific research. The development of unique and creative methods for mapping and visualizing such data has therefore become a vital aspect of neuroimaging science. By making use of abstract representations that reduce the dimensionality of the underlying data to highlight features of interest, such techniques often result in visualizations that carry their own unique aesthetic value and challenge the already blurry boundaries between science and art.

This exhibition aims to foster the ongoing dialogue between neuroscience and the arts by bringing together works by artists and members of the neuroscientific community that capture the beauty of the human brain through both literal and metaphorical representations. The collection includes original works by artists and scientists as well as prints of selected submissions to The Neuro Bureau's Brain Art Competition, which has been held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping since 2011.

To find out more about The Neuro Bureau and previous brain art exhibitions, please visit www.neurobureau.org.


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