Self Reflected: Deeply Fusing Art and Science to Create the World's Most Complex Artistic Depiction of the Human Brain

April 3, 2019 -
3:00pm to 4:00pm

Abstract: Biology meets art at a new exhibit at Falk Library where the intricate structure of the brain is revealed through micro-etching. A lecture with neuroscientist and artist Greg Dunn will take place on April 3, and an exhibit featuring several pieces of his artwork will be on display at the library in Scaife Hall through May 31.

Dr. Greg Dunn (artist and neuroscientist) and Dr. Brian Edwards (artist and applied physicist) created Self Reflected to reveal insight into the complexity of human consciousness by revolutionizing the way in which the average person thinks about the brain. Self Reflected bridges the visual and conceptual connection between the macroscopic brain and the microscopic behavior of neurons by fusing neuroscientific data, hand drawings, algorithmic manipulation, optical engineering, photolithography, and gilding to etch half a million neurons into large sheets of gold. The result, a technique called reflective microetching, uses animations created through reflected light to create an ultraprecise depiction of the enormous scope of beautiful and delicately balanced neural choreographies designed to reflect what is occurring in our own minds as we observe this work of art. Self Reflected was created to remind us all that the most marvelous machine in the known universe is at the core of our being and is the root of our shared humanity.

Location and Address

Lecture Room 1 Scaife Hall;  

Reception @ 2:00 pm, Falk Library Upper Floor Exhibit Area