Aesthetic Theory: How Art Tricks the Brain into Perceiving Beauty

Friday, July 21 | 9:15 – 10:15 am

In this talk, Cameron will explore cognitive factors that trigger reflexive perception of beauty. We use them all the time in our artwork without necessarily intending to, and often when we see imagery that is exquisitely beautiful we can describe what we like about it, but not *why* we feel that way. Features such as subsurface scattering, depth of field, saturation, glossiness, striking illumination and contrast all command attention, but what are they really telling the brain? Cameron intends to show what’s happening under the hood when we produce our greatest work, in the interest of helping the audience continue to refine their style and skillset whether animation or illustration. This discussion is designed to be valuable to every audience member that creates imagery for a living.

Learning Objectives: Through attending this session, the audience will learn how to leverage perceptual reflexes to enhance reflexive interest in their artwork; gain understanding of how the brain interprets aesthetic features of the imagery; learn how to combine these features into their own coherent “recipes” to create a moving experience in their audiences within their own style; profit

Keywords: Aesthetics, Beauty, 3D animation, Illustration, Perception

About the Presenter
Cameron started his scientific visualization career as Science Magazine’s primary scientific illustrator in late 2000, producing illustrations and covers for the journal and animations for its online presence. Three years later, he began his Masters in Medical Illustration from Augusta University Health and continued to provide illustration and animation to the periodicals Science and Nature. After graduating in 2005, Cameron and Olivia founded Microverse Studios under its original name, Cosmocyte. Since then Microverse Studios has produced award-winning animations for multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical corporations, educational institutions, biotech startups, and produced scientific graphics for documentary TV series for Discovery, National Geographic, and the History Channel. Cameron has given numerous talks on methods and techniques for scientific animation and story structure for the Association of Medical Illustrators, Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, the Public Relations Society of America, and numerous universities in the US and abroad. Cameron is currently an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago’s BVIS program. He lives in Northeast Florida and strives to bring an air of respectability to the term “Florida Man.”