Looking at how the brain works: art meets science
A University of Southampton neuroscientist and the University's artist-in-residence are helping local schoolchildren to understand how the brain works by using art to explain complex concepts.
To celebrate the Year of Science, students from Woodhill Primary School, Chandlers Ford, will be participating in an art-science workshop entitled 'Your Brain - A Users Guide'.
Artist Seran Kubisa and neuroscientist Dr. Matt Cuttle from the University School of Biological Sciences will lead the workshop which will explore neuroscience research, whilst also developing creative thinking by bridging the gap between art and science.
The workshop has previously been run for sixth formers in Kent, and the visual arts process helped students retain the science facts, and the science concepts and visuals helped create unique artworks.
The Woodhill workshops (28 February and 1 March) will give pupils a fascinating insight into the similarities between the fields of Art and Science.
Seran Kubisa and Matt Cuttle received a prestigious Leverhulme Trust award to fund Seran as an artist-in-residence at the School of Biological Sciences during the University's Golden Jubilee Year. Art and science links have been explored, resulting in unique art-science collaborations. The project has enabled artworks to be developed from the School's state-of-the-art imaging facility, using a confocal microscope to view brain cells in action.
The ongoing science-art project at the University is expanding to include research from the fields of Photonics, Crystalography and Oceanography.
Notes for editors
The University of Southampton is a leading UK teaching and research institution with a global reputation for leading-edge research and scholarship. The University, which celebrates its Golden Jubilee in 2002, has 20,000 students and over 4,500 staff and plays an important role in the City of Southampton. Its annual turnover is in the region of £215 million.