Coming to Terms with Art
University of Pennsylvania
“While the idea that art teaches us something may be intuitively obvious to people who believe in its power, is that actually true?”
—Anjan Chatterjee, M.D., professor of neurology and a member of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and the Center for Neuroscience and Society
The Opportunity
The way we talk about art implies the deep role of art. For instance, we may describe an artwork as “profound” or “insightful,” or an encounter as “eye-opening.” These descriptions suggest that we value the cognitive benefits of art.
But before we can ask the meaning of art, we must know the meaning of the words we use to describe our interactions with art. That’s why Dr. Anjan Chaterjee was seeking to give art a language, or at minimum, a common lexicon, as a first step in putting Aesthetic Cognitivism to the test.
The Approach
Chatterjee’s research began with the deconstruction of the big, broad concepts and terms associated with aesthetic cognition. In an effort to bring granularity to its grandiosity, we posed provocative questions such as: What kinds of art are we talking about? What might be included under the broad category of understanding and knowledge? Do some kinds of art perhaps actively invite learning more than others?
The role of storytelling was not only to bring the viewer along the research process, but leverage the power of metaphor as an entry point into the research story. That approach led to a strategic system of storytelling tools for Chatterjee and his research team.
Storytelling
Communications Strategy | Copywriting | Video | Photography and Visualization | Social Media Graphics | Infographic | Public Relations
Project completed as Chief Strategy Officer at Grey Matter Group
