The Cognitive Science of Aesthetic Interaction

If you have ever wondered why people love some paintings but are unmoved by others, then this exploration of the science of pictorial cognition is for you. Using carefully designed exercises and assisted by Konrad, Britain’s first “thinking computer”, the workshop will explain how the human visual system makes sense of pictures, how artists use colours, shapes, and no little skill to bring out the full range of human emotions on demand, and how computer simulations of cognitive processing can help us study both sides of the aesthetic exchange more effectively.