2024 the best book on every artist review

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A life-altering journey through the science of neuroaesthetics, which offers proof for how our brains and bodies transform when we participate in the arts—and how this knowledge can improve our health, enable us to flourish, and build stronger communities.

“This book blew my mind!”—Angela Duckworth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Grit

A BLOOMBERG BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • Finalist for the Inc. Non-Obvious Book Award and the Porchlight Business Book Award

What is art? Many of us think of the arts as entertainment—a luxury of some kind. In Your Brain on Art, authors Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross show how activities from painting and dancing to expressive writing, architecture, and more are essential to our lives.

We’re on the verge of a cultural shift in which the arts can deliver potent, accessible, and proven solutions for the well-being of everyone. Magsamen and Ross offer compelling research that shows how engaging in an art project for as little as forty-five minutes reduces the stress hormone cortisol, no matter your skill level, and just one art experience per month can extend your life by ten years. They expand our understanding of how playing music builds cognitive skills and enhances learning; the vibrations of a tuning fork create sound waves to counteract stress; virtual reality can provide cutting-edge therapeutic benefit; and interactive exhibits dissolve the boundaries between art and viewers, engaging all of our senses and strengthening memory. Doctors have even been prescribing museum visits to address loneliness, dementia, and many other physical and mental health concerns.

Your Brain on Art is a portal into this new understanding about how the arts and aesthetics can help us transform traditional medicine, build healthier communities, and mend an aching planet.

Featuring conversations with artists such as David Byrne, Renée Fleming, and evolutionary biologist E. O. Wilson, Your Brain on Art is an authoritative guide to neuroaesthetics. The book weaves a tapestry of breakthrough research, insights from multidisciplinary pioneers, and compelling stories from people who are using the arts to enhance their lives.

From the Publisher

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House (March 21, 2023)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593449231
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593449233
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.44 x 1.02 x 9.39 inches
Reviewer: Daniel
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Just what is needed…
Review: This beautiful and enlightening volume is just what is needed to bring scientific credence to what we have all known intuitively…we (our brains, bodies, spirits, communities) need art to flourish and be whole. Kudos to the authors for giving this gift to all of us. Now, let’s go create and advocate! —Daniel C. Potts, MD, FAAN

Reviewer: Thomas Oppenheim
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The Joyous Marriage of the Arts and Science!
Review: Your Brain on Art, is is a brilliant book with a good heart, a magnificent mind, and important work to do in the world. In it we witness a wedding between the arts and science. The book announces the consummation of that marriage and celebrates its progeny: health, wellness, community, innovation, empowerment. The book beckons us to join this celebration. To quote from the book “Creative expression, the arts, and aesthetics serve a core purpose: To birth new thoughts, and ideas. To mirror back to one another what is important and what is needed. To weave together common threads of humanity. The arts empower us to reimagine, re-envision, and reconnect in order to create a better future together.” Thanks to this book we now know with scientific certitude what we hitherto only intuited: that the arts heal. Come one come all and join the party! Celebrate Your Brain on Art!

Reviewer: Cheryl Moot
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Book review
Review: Very interesting hel ps keeps a person motivated. Lots of knowledge within the book. Worth every penny.

Reviewer: Janet F. Guerrin
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Useful analysis
Review: But not what I'm looking for. IM 90 YO and have read that drawing improves memory. How? This seems more about other arts and about how LOOKING at art changes a person. What does making art do? And does it last? I used to draw about to devote more time to it again. Will it benefit my aging mind or just take time from more "useful" activity? Just wondering....ill do anyway for the joy of it.

Reviewer: M. K.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: This book can re-ignite the spark of creativity in all of us
Review: I grew up in an "art" household with parents who were artists - and I became an artist/designer - and have been doing that for many years. This book has re-energized me to explore my art and creativity more, and not just think of it as part of my job. The deep science behind the examples and studies written about is compelling - but it's presented in such a beautifully human way that is seems to just become part of the conversation. The authors, and all who participated in the interviews, etc. in the book, shine a bright light on why we should ensure that art has an important place in our personal and professional lives, as well as in our communities, and society. Thanks for creating such a clear and compelling story!

Reviewer: RitaP
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Read if you want to understand how art impacts you
Review: This book is an excellent introduction to understanding why art has such an impact on us. If you've created or enjoyed art, you intuitively know it has a magic power over you— and by reading this book, you'll know why. I appreciated the many examples, as well as the diversity of creative experiences, that the authors discussed.

Reviewer: Fritz Tegularius
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Bordering on pseudoscience
Review: I pre-ordered this book with high expectations. When it was finally released, I read about half of it immediately and then returned it, disappointed.When a book's description uses terms like "proof" I expect convincing, hard science. I didn't find it here. The flowery first/second-person writing style, conveniently skipping over complexities and ambiguities in relevant research, reads more like a new-age self-help book than a book intending to explain a complex science, let alone offer proof.All of us know intuitively that art is beneficial in many ways. I had hoped this book would offer a more solid scientific foundation for this intuition. Alas, the scientific examples provided are oversimplified and anecdotal.In recent years we've seen various pseudo-scientific theories claiming to be "proven" by such things as quantum mechanics or other sciences, in ways that would make true scientists cringe and protest. It looks like the trend has now reached neuroaesthetics.The Kindle version is not well implemented. In many places in the book you will find references to image inserts. These references are not linked. You have to abandon your spot, page to the end of the book, find the proper insert (often not conveniently labeled), then find your way back to where you left off reading. After a couple of times doing that, I gave up looking at the reference images.

Reviewer: D.B.H.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Insightful Read
Review: As one who is an artist and the CTO of a neuroscience company, Your Brain on Art grabbed my interest. The text shows how, if we invest in both art and ourselves, we can preserve brain hygiene and extend our lives. Extending our lives is not the end game, but doing so while improving the quality of that life is. This is an excellent read.

Reviewer: CDS
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Very inspirational, and goes deep into his art forms can transform us.

Reviewer: Helena Wergles Ramos
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Eu ainda não estou nem na metade do livro e já estou revolucionada por ele. Já entendi que meu cérebro precisa de praticar artes (criatividade) com regularidade. A arte dá barato, e o livro explica isso com base na ciência. É maravilhoso. Recomendo muito pra todo mundo que sente conexão com as experiências estéticas, seja artes formais ou até simplesmente estar na natureza - caso você queira descobrir porque você se sente tão restaurado na natureza ou na prática ou contato com artes. É uma leitura que pode ajudar muitas pessoas a recuperarem a saúde mental de formas práticas através de práticas simples de artes, mesmo sem talento etc. Tudo sempre explicando os efeitos de vários estímulos sensoriais e emocionais etc - no cérebro. É uma leitura bem interessante e necessária.

Reviewer: Kia Weberlein
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Kunst und Wissenschaft, Wissenschaft und Kunst - was lange als unvereinbar galt, endlich vereint in einem sehr informativen Buch mit teils wirklich erhellenden Fakten!

Reviewer: Kathleen Modrowski
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: "Your Brain on Art" provides a good understanding of why ideas we have practiced intuitively are useful, such as Art as a way to build community.

Reviewer: Sunflower
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Informative. Written well. Challenges your thinking and helps one to value art/the arts more.