David Zaig

	Some Thoughts About Art
	DO WE NEED A FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE IN THE WAY WE THINK AND DO ART? Yes we do need a change, and a drastic one at that. We have been stranded in a stagnant backwater for quite some time now, entrenched in a closed system, cut off from the advances of present day knowledge, and bound up in the solipsistic art world--a world firmly grounded in the past. It often seems that factors such as the trend of the moment or vague ideas of self-expression, perhaps in the vein of Freudian self-discovery, still drive the art world. Artists, critics, collectors, and dealers have ignored the wealth of knowledge we are acquiring about the brain and rely solely on intuition. By intuition I simply mean guesswork--guesswork about art, about making art, and about the art world. I believe that there are other ways to avoid guessing, one of which is to bring the brain to the forefront of our inquiries, since the brain is after all, where our aggression, hate, love, tastes, and influences are processed. Carl Sagan summarized this idea clearly and forcefully when he commented on Francis Crick's book. "The Astonishing Hypothesis,” he said, "is a fascinating argument that consciousness and what has long been called the soul are now accessible to scientific investigation, that all our inner states—our feelings, perceptions, volition, and self-awareness are properties of networks of neurons in our brains." By understanding our neural mechanisms, we can understand better who we are, and by understanding who we are, we are better equipped to contribute to society and to art. >Visit Art with Brain in Mind >>>forum.

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Relief Paintings 1965	Sculpture 1969	Landscape 1974	Silkscreen 1975
Surrealism 1978	Superimposition 1980	Nudes Progression 1982	Air Brush 1983
Nudes 1983	Portraits 1986	Sculpture 1993	Seascape AirBrush 1995

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