1st Year, College of Engineering
Medium
Digital art piece using Procreate
Abstract
What sparks creativity? What drives people to craft artworks, compose music, invent never before seen technologies? It begins with neurons excitedly making connections, firing in all directions. The inklings of thoughts and memories scattered about different parts of your brain combine into something entirely new. This piece represents both my personal sense of inventiveness, and how I define creativity as an abstract concept — a vibrant process of turning ideas into reality.
This artwork explores the intersection of artistry and the science behind creativity. Created digitally using the Procreate app, it presents an interpretive representation of neurons, evoking questions on what creativity is and how the brain generates it. As an abstract concept, the science behind creativity remains relatively unknown, yet certain key aspects are understood.
Rather than being localized to a single region of the brain, creativity is a brain-wide process involving three main networks: the executive attention network, the default network, and the salience network. The executive attention network is responsible for focused thought and concentration. The default network facilitates imagination, simulating images from previous memories and experiences. Finally, the salience network switches between neural networks, controlling which are most relevant for the given situation.
This piece tells the story of the creative process. In the initial stage, represented by the first image, only a few neurons fire, symbolizing the spark of an idea. As the process continues in the second image, electrical signals travel through all 3 networks – from foreground, to midground, to background – lighting up new nerve cells and paths along the way. As these connections are made, the piece becomes more refined and rendered; illustrating the idea fully taking form. This chain reaction sparks the different networks into action, until eventually, the entire brain is ignited into creative thought.
– Details about the science behind where creativity comes from: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/306611#Networks-vs-regions