Neurology of the Arts

Neurology of the Arts: Painting, Music, Literature (April 2004) edited by F Clifford Rose: This book is the first attempt to provide a basis for the interaction of the brain and nervous system with painting, music and literature....The section on literature relates to Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky, Conan Doyle, James Joyce, and the poetry of one of England's most famous neurologists, Henry Head.

[pdf] The Neurology of Art--The Example of Giorgio de Chirico by Julien Bogousslavsky:

Blanke and Landis emphasize how a neurological condition undoubtedly influenced the work of one of the greatest modern artists. Since a disease may help understand artistic features, and art may help understand the manifestations of diseases, further studies in the 'neurology of art' would certainly be interesting and useful.

Style follows content: On the microgenesis of art perception (November 2007) by M Dorothee Augustin, Helmut Leder, Florian Hutzler, and Claus-Christian Carbon: While effects of content were present at all presentation times, effects of style were traceable from 50 ms onwards. The results show clear differences in the microgenesis of style and content, suggesting that in art perception style follows content.

Shakespeare and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

[via Cosmic Variance, poem] Sonnet 64 by William Shakespeare:

When I have seen by Time's fell hand defaced
The rich proud cost of outworn buried age;
When sometime lofty towers I see down-razed
And brass eternal slave to mortal rage;
When I have seen the hungry ocean gain
Advantage on the kingdom of the shore,
And the firm soil win of the watery main,
Increasing store with loss and loss with store;
When I have seen such interchange of state,
Or state itself confounded to decay;
Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate,
That Time will come and take my love away.
This thought is as a death, which cannot choose
But weep to have that which it fears to lose.

Shakespeare and Thermodynamics: Dam the Second Law by Frank L Lambert: This web page is for individuals in the humanities and the arts or business and the legal professions so that they can sense the remarkable importance of activation energies in understanding the working of our second-law world.

Two Cultures: Websites relating to the Snow-Leavis Controversy.

David Tennant's Hamlet

This summer The Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Hamlet features David Tennant as the melancholy Prince of Denmark and Patrick Stewart as Claudius.

Tennant takes a break from the TARDIS (September 2007): Under a compromise agreement, Tennant is expected to return to the role for [Doctor Who's] fifth series since its revival, in 2010. He has agreed to film three extended bank holiday specials to keep fan’s happy during 2009.

[from shironezumi] Neil Gaiman on Tennant's Hamlet:

"To be, or not to be, that is the question. Weeelll.... More of A question really. Not THE question. Because, well, I mean, there are billions and billions of questions out there, and well, when I say billions, I mean, when you add in the answers, not just the questions, weeelll, you're looking at numbers that are positively astronomical and...for that matter the other question is what you lot are doing on this planet in the first place, and er, did anyone try just pushing this little red button?"

Outrageous Fortune

Slings and Arrows (2003-2006): Great Canadian TV comedy series about theatre, Shakespeare, Hamlet. It ran for three seasons and starred Paul Gross as Geoffrey Tennant, a 'legendary theatrical madman' who takes over as artistic director of a theatre company when his mentor passes away.

Oliver's dream is the pilot.

[videos] Try the trailer, then the pilot on YouTube in parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

[thanks to wheresmycow for suggesting this, and for keeping the sanity and faith: 'Good madam, stay awhile; I will be faithful.']