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. 2018 Oct 24:9:1938.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01938. eCollection 2018.

Toward a Unification of the Arts

Steven Brown  1
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.

Toward a Unification of the Arts

Steven Brown. Front Psychol. .
. 2018 Oct 24:9:1938.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01938. eCollection 2018.

Author

Steven Brown  1

Affiliation

  • 1 Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.

Abstract

This article presents a manifesto for the scientific exploration of the arts in their totality, rather than conceiving of each artform independently on its own terms. In order to achieve this, I present an analytical procedure that is comprised of two related steps. The first step is to identify instances of sharing in the production mechanisms across artforms, for example the occurrence of rhythmic structure in music, dance, and poetry. The second is to examine how this sharing creates "affordances for combinations," making it possible for music to be set to a poem or for dance movements to be choreographed to music. By elucidating the neurocognitive mechanisms of sharing across arts domains and the affordances that they offer for creating combinations, it should be possible to achieve a unification of the arts.

Keywords: arts; multisensory; perception; production; supervenience.

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Figures

FIGURE 1

FIGURE 1

A classification of the arts.…

FIGURE 1

A classification of the arts. The figure shows the four major branches of…

FIGURE 1
A classification of the arts. The figure shows the four major branches of the arts as making up a tetrad. Within that are opposing triangles. The top triangle is made up of the performing arts, while the bottom triangle is made up of the representational arts. Theater/film and dance sit in both categories.
FIGURE 2

FIGURE 2

How artforms can combine. Shared…

FIGURE 2

How artforms can combine. Shared production mechanisms between two or more artforms create…

FIGURE 2
How artforms can combine. Shared production mechanisms between two or more artforms create affordances for combination, permitting a natural coupling between them in time and/or space. The combination of elements from these syntheses activates sensory processes for multiple systems in parallel. This often works out at the production level such that the elements from each artform are congruent and mutually reinforcing.
FIGURE 3

FIGURE 3

Interactions among the arts. The…

FIGURE 3

Interactions among the arts. The same double-triangle representation from Figure 1 is shown…

FIGURE 3
Interactions among the arts. The same double-triangle representation from Figure 1 is shown here. In red text are the six types of two-way interactions between artforms. Whereas most interactions involve simultaneous combinations of artforms, the interactions marked with asterisks (i.e., incidental music, program music, and dance in verbal dramas) are those that tend to occur in alternation with one another.
FIGURE 4

FIGURE 4

The building blocks of arts…

FIGURE 4

The building blocks of arts combinations in the performing arts. The figure shows…

FIGURE 4
The building blocks of arts combinations in the performing arts. The figure shows eight forms of the performing arts along the top. These are then classified with respect to their inclusion of four performance modalities: speaking voice, singing voice, instrumental music, and dance (and/or mime). Black circles imply the presence of a given modality in a given artform. The vertical arrows indicate the typical directionality of coupling, suggesting that singing and dancing are very often done to the beat of instrumental music in these artforms. The dashed arrow for “music concert” implies that singing can be done either a capella or to instrumental accompaniment; likewise, instrumental music can be performed all on its own. Performance art (not shown here) sits in the categories represented by dance and mime.
FIGURE 5

FIGURE 5

Directionality of coupling between artforms.…

FIGURE 5

Directionality of coupling between artforms. Using music as a reference, the figure contrasts…

FIGURE 5
Directionality of coupling between artforms. Using music as a reference, the figure contrasts two directions of coupling: “media-to-music” and “music-to-media.” In media-to-music couplings, the music comes first, and the media attempt to conform to its structural and expressive properties. In media-to-music couplings, the media come first, and the music attempts to conform to dance movements, text, or the structure of visual media.
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References

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    1. Anker S., Nelkin D. (2004). The Molecular Gaze: Art in the Genetic Age. Cold Spring Harbor, NY: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
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    1. Boyd B. (2009). On the Origin of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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