I Read Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross’ ‘Your Brain On Art’.

I see a lot of different things when I see people around art. I see commitment, affirmation, longing, envy, brainstorming, I see passion, sadness, joy, depression. All of these things aren’t thwacked into us immediately upon engaging with art, but instead sort of writhe within us in our waking hours and Art kind of channels all of that aloof and sloshing emotion into trigger points of distinct reaction. Whether we’re creating it or observing it, Art is something that chemically rearranges us over and over again. When I saw this book on a table in Barnes and Noble, I was immediately interested, judging this book by its cover (it’s actually really beautiful with its bold lettering and rainbow abstraction on its cover), and in one of those rare moments, picking up a book and knowing that I was going to be reading it next. Ever since our trip to Pittsburgh in October and getting a chance to visit the Andy Warhol Museum, I have been wildly inspired to create again, tapping once again into the spirit of Making Things and also wanting to digest and interact with everything that has even a small node of Art within it.

This book can read a bit like an academic breakdown, but I can’t say that I’m surprised. While there are a great deal of anecdotes and examples of artists and beautiful works, there is the premise of this book that engages with the science that we experience while indulging in the practice of it. It’s sparing and doesn’t feel like I’m wading through citations and sterile factoids and journal quotes. But there is a little bit of an element of detached academia, of the perspective that Art exists as an artifact of our humanity and a necessity of our species. If that’s something about Art that interests you, I would say about 35% of this book does a great job of speaking to how our brains react to different stimuli, about the architecture of our brains and the way that different nerves are custom built to direct attention towards those different mediums. I found that stuff “Pretty Neat”™ but also I think learning about how we are basically numbers and blood vessels that react to things regardless of our unshared experiences makes me feel a little bit like an index card in a rolodex. BUT, if the science is what you’re here for, there’s a decent amount in here to get acquainted with!

The rest of the book does a really great job of illustrating different ways that Art has evolved over time and the way that visionary artists are using creation and structure to course correct mental disability, to nurture people through trauma, to give sense to those who miss it and to bring us closer to a state of infinite Joy. There is a very special chapter called Flourishing that I plan to re-read before I place this one back on the shelf. It discusses people’s integration within their lives as they sustain a meaningful purpose, and several different avenues through which to find our ways towards it. There are specifics within in terms of types of art exhibits and expressions to draw yourself toward if you want to experience a different type of emotion associated with them, but I would encourage people to check out this book in a bookstore and flip to chapter 6 and sit with it for a bit! I find it really inspiring and motivational. This was the chapter I was looking for to really help me understand the way that my brain syncs with my Art Spirit and how it can elevate me into a “Better Person” or at least a version of myself that I can bring into the world with a sense of transformative power.

I recommend this book if you’re looking for a way to deepen your connection with the arts. Art is something that I associate myself with very heavily. I seek it out in every moment, I find it in places where it doesn’t primally exist, and I create it to fill the lives of those around me and those that I love. I use it to meet people I never knew existed. I use it to help create pathways to and from those that I’m magnetized towards. This book did a wonderful job of cementing and affirming that so much of the work I do within that art is substantive and valuable, and I’m very happy that I read it!