This study is an in situ experiment carried out at the Grand Palais in Paris during the exhibition “Dynamo” in 2013. Visitors of the exhibition were asked to stand in quiet stance in the middle of Carsten Höller’s “Light Corner”. This artwork, one of the first of the Dynamo exhibition, was a room covered with light bulbs flickering while speakers displayed sound vibrations at similar fast-paced rhythms, inducing visuo-auditory hallucinations. Inasmuch as many visitors naturally closed their eyes when the artwork (...) was turned on, we measured the impact of being within the artwork with closed eyes on postural control and on subjective appreciation of the artwork. Overall, the 18 participants showed very diverse appreciation. The main results of our study show that the mean power frequency of the body sway increased, and that such frequency was negatively correlated with the subjective appreciation of the artwork: participants who disliked the artwork more, and participants who spontaneously referred to the violence of the artwork, showed higher frequencies. Thus, our study shows that this artwork impacted in parallel body control and emotions, leaving the causal links between the two to be explored in future studies. (shrink)

Recent research on creative person has been enriched with a new perspective that brings together the study of brain functioning with the analysis of creative mind and creative behaviour. This chapter attempts to contribute to this effort, by reviewing the literature on brain activity and creativity, within the theoretical framework offered by the multivariate approach. According to this approach the multidimensional creative process is conceptualized as the interaction between person-centred factors, such as cognitive abilities, motivational drives, and personality traits, and (...) contextual influences derived from the environment. Using this approach as a unifying theoretical framework, a coherent picture of the neurological phenomenology of creativity is provided. The viewpoint presented in this chapter should motivate investigators to reflect on the creative brain using wide theoretical lenses such as the one offered by the multivariate approach. (shrink)