Presidential Professor Lecture Series
Date(s): April 2, 2013
Time(s): 5:30 pm
Visiting Presidential Professor Jonathan Fineberg presents:
April 2, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
"Desire Lines in the Mind"
This final lecture will speculate on the effects of art on the brain and set out an argument for the necessity of art, drawing on the neuroscience and experimental psychology as well as the writings of artists to examine how visual thinking changes the brain, enhances creativity, and plays a central role in the creation of new knowledge.
For more information about Jonathan Fineberg, visit his website at www.jonathanfineberg.com.
Previous Lectures in the Series
September 11, 5:30 p.m.
"Motherwell's Mother: An Iconography in Abstraction"
In this lecture, Fineberg will focus on the work of Robert Motherwell and attempt to demonstrate a detailed iconography in his abstract art, showing that abstract form can carry significant and specific meaning.
October 30, 5:30 p.m.
"The Ineffable, the Unspeakable, and the Inspirational: A Grammar"
This lecture will attempt to hypothesize a grammar for unconscious thought in form, centered on the example of the non-verbal exchange between Calder and Miró through their materials.
March 12, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
"The Nature Theater: Art and Politics"
This lecture will build on the first two, arguing—principally in the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude as well as perhaps in that of some artists of interwar Europe and some contemporary artists in China—that works of art, because of their access to unconscious meaning and their ability to modify unconscious organization (lectures one and two), can profoundly affect our social and political consciousness on a level deeper than simple representation (which is usually what people mean when they talk about "political" dimensions to works of art).
Location: Sheldon Museum of Art
