ART LOVERS HAVE TWO BRAINS…
A good way to appreciate yourself as an art-lover, and/or an artist, is to discover and realise that you still have the colossal advantage of having two working brains. You have a left-brain and you have a right brain. It comes with your genetic inheritance from birth just like everybody else. You are in effect a twin.
It is like having two super computers linked by a network. Both computers receive the same input signals coming through your senses, hearing, touch, smell, taste and sight. The left uses the information in one way, while the right uses it another way.
The right brain enjoys all the creative stuff, and the left-brain does all the logical business stuff.
You, and your twin…
There is a difference between being on one hand an art-lover and/or an artist, and on the other hand not being either. The difference is that non-artists gradually lose much of the playful, inquisitive, intuitive and creative power of the right brain by the time they are adult.
But if you are an art-lover and/or artist it is very likely that you will have retained use of the right side of your brain. You enjoy the creation of art, and you do not want to watch the demise of your creative side. You do not want your twin to die.
For art lovers…
For some of us the enjoyment of creativity remains. We feel the buzz when we see a good piece of art. We can collect and encourage art, and influence the creative acts with enthusiasm and sharing the joy.
But the dry, sensible, responsible, one sided, adult left-brain pressure that dominates grown up society can often result in a life where art appreciation has sadly vanished.
For artists…
Some artists are only good at right-brain creative activity. They dislike or even dread the boring experience that a life of dry responsible left-brain activity alone involves.
But the stereotypical alternative, namely of being an eccentric bohemian artist, using only irresponsible right brain power, and living in poverty, is not attractive either.
However…
Some artists find accounts, record keeping, selling, and the art business difficult but interesting. They recognize that they have under-used left-brain power.
This discovery can mean survival as an artist, and they can actually benefit from the efficient use of accountancy, record keeping, analysis, and selling.
Conclusion…
We all can combine the power of both of our brains to enrich our lives, survive, and succeed, as artists and art-lovers, and be happy, efficient, responsible, and respected members of society.
Admission…
OK, so the twin brain idea is not strictly accurate in neuro-biological terms. It is an analogy. It is ‘as if’ art-lovers and successful artists are gifted with the use of both brains.
Wikepedia quote…
‘It was suggested in 1960 by psychobiologist and Nobel Prize winner Roger Sperry that the right hemisphere in a human brain is where creativity is born, and the left half is where rational analysis occurs. It has since been shown to be much more complex than that. Never-the-less, left brain activity is associated with mathematics, facts, logic and rationality, more mechanical. Whereas the right brain is more emotional and associated with imagination, feelings, intuition, creativity, and visualization.’
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