The Science of Art

'Hindu artists often speak of conveying the rasa, or 'essence', of something in order to evoke a specific mood in the observer. But what exactly does this mean? What does it mean to 'capture the very essence' of something in order to 'evoke a direct emotional response'? The answer to these questions, it turns out, provides the key to understanding what art really is. ... what artist tries to do (either consciously or unconsciously) is to not only capture the essence of something but also to amplify it in order to more powerfully activate the same neural mechanism that would be activated by the original object.' (Ramachandran and Hirstein, 1999 p. 17)

The Science of Art

'The word 'rasa' appears repeatedly in Indian art manuals and has no literal translation, but roughly it means 'the very essence of.' (Ramachandran and Hirstein, 1999 p. 16)

The Science of Art

'If a Martian ethologist were to land on earth and watch us humans, he would be puzzled by many aspects of human nature, but surely art-our propensity to create and enjoy paintings and sculpture-would be among the most puzzling. What biological function could this mysterious behaviour serve?... But even if beauty is largely in the eye of beholder, might there be some sort of universal rule or 'deep structure', underlying all artistic experience?' (Ramachandran and Hirstein, 1999 p. 16)

The Science of Art

'We present a theory of human artistic experience and the natural mechanisms that mediate it. Any theory of art (or, indeed, any aspect of human nature) has to ideally have three components. (a) The logic of art: whether there are universal rules and principles; (b) The evolutionary rationale: why did these rules evolve and why do they have the form that they do; (c) What is the Brain circuitry involved?' (Ramachandran and Hirstein, 1999 p. 15)