Irving Massey: The Neural Imagination: Aesthetic and Neuroscientific Approaches to the Arts (2009)

“Art and technology have been converging rapidly in the past few years; an important example of this convergence is the alliance of neuroscience with aesthetics, which has produced the new field of neuroaesthetics.

Irving Massey examines this alliance, in large part to allay the fears of artists and audiences alike that brain science may “explain away” the arts. The first part of the book shows how neuroscience can enhance our understanding of certain features of art. The second part of the book illustrates a humanistic approach to the arts; it is written entirely without recourse to neuroscience, in order to show the differences in methodology between the two approaches. The humanistic style is marked particularly by immersion in the individual work and by evaluation, rather than by detachment in the search for generalizations. In the final section Massey argues that, despite these differences, once the reality of imagination is accepted neuroscience can be seen as the collaborator, not the inquisitor, of the arts.”

Publisher University of Texas Press, 2009
Cognitive Approaches to Literature and Culture series
ISBN 0292752792, 9780292752795
224 pages

Publisher

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John Avery: Information Theory and Evolution (2003)

This highly interdisciplinary book discusses the phenomenon of life, including its origin and evolution (and also human cultural evolution), against the background of thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and information theory. Among the central themes is the seeming contradiction between the second law of thermodynamics and the high degree of order and complexity produced by living systems. This paradox has its resolution in the information content of the Gibbs free energy that enters the biosphere from outside sources, as the author shows. The role of information in human cultural evolution is another focus of the book. One of the final chapters discusses the merging of information technology and biotechnology into a new discipline — bio-information technology.

Publisher World Scientific, 2003
ISBN 9812383999, 9789812383990
Length 217 pages

publisher
google books

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Tony Gibbs: The Fundamentals of Sonic Art & Sound Design (2007)

The Fundamentals of Sonic Art & Sound Design introduces a subject that will be new to many: sonic arts. The application of sound to other media (such as film or video) is well known, and the idea of sound as a medium in its own right is also widely accepted. However, the idea that sound could also be a distinct art form by itself is less well established and often misunderstood.

The Fundamentals of Sonic Arts & Sound Design introduces, describes and begins the process of defining this new subject and provides a starting point for anyone who has an interest in the creative uses of sound.

The book explores the worlds of sonic arts and sound design through their history and development, and looks at the present state of these extraordinarily diverse genres through the works and words of established artists. It discusses the wide range of practices that currently come under the heading of ‘sonic art’, as well as the technologies that are used and the impact that they have upon the work.

* Introduces students to the diverse disciplines of sonic art and sound design, examining the relevant technologies and approaches to recording, performance and display.
* Describes the history and development of sonic art as a distinct subject.
* Supported by a variety of examples, quotations and interviews with artists, as well as student resources, suggested reading and listening.

Publisher AVA Publishing, 2007
Fundamentals (Ava) Series / AVA academia
ISBN 2940373493, 9782940373499
175 pages

publisher
google books

PDF (updated on 2012-8-3)