Creativity: The Playground of the Brain

Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown
Tuesday, 24 January, 2012 - 21:00
Featuring: Vik Muniz & Rui Costa

“Here I am. Standing in front of the work of artist Jackson Pollock. It makes me feel as if all my feelings were splashed against the wall. I am moved, and yet somehow I stand still. And I wonder: how did Pollock create an object so compelling? What did he do to generate this idea? I start writing down all these thoughts but something catches my eye, and I glance down at my feet. Carefully crafted Nike shoes stare back at me. Instantaneously, another question comes into my mind: can the person that designed that pair of shoes be compared to Pollock? Did they use similar processes to create these ideas? Is there something special about their brains, or can I be as creative as they are? And, more generally, can other animals also generate creative behaviors? I gaze at a spiderweb and I wonder…”

We do not have answers to these questions but we are certainly having a lot of fun in trying to solve them. Perhaps even in just asking them. And we know that we are not alone in this because everyday we see humans in a variety of contexts struggling to be creative, like a child’s first step, an old recipe, a blank sheet of canvas or an equation.

During the next Ar event, on January 24th, we will have an artist and a neuroscientist discussing creativity. Vik Muniz will give us his perspective about creativity and how to generate creative ideas, using examples from his work. Rui Costa will guide us through what neuroscientists think we know about creative behaviors in humans and other animals as a step to understand how the brain generates creativity.

Entrance will be free and subject to availability. To guarantee your place in the event we advise you to arrive half an hour before.

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