MUSICAL FIBERS: HOW THE BRAIN HEARS, PLAYS AND LOVES MUSIC
December 2007 to January 2008. Tiny Creatures Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

mu•sic   \ myü-zik \
n. Greek mousik, (art) of the Muses, feminine of mousikos, of the Muses, from Mousa, Muse
The art of arranging tones or sounds in succession and/or combination within a temporal framework to produce a composition of unity.

Music is currently one of the most popular topics in Neuroscience due to its functional complexity, its uniqueness as a solely human behavioral phenomenon and, of course, our love of the art form itself. Music utilizes multiple systems simultaneously in the brain, including the aural, somatosensory and motor systems, emotional centers and multiple cortical areas including the prefrontal cortex which has been attributed to our personality center.

Musical Fibers is an installation displaying these neural pathways, illustrating how they work together, allowing us to hear, play and love music. Colored yarn extended out from a mannequin playing the violin, the yarn was attached to brain drawings which indicated known pathways attributed to hearing, muscle movements and emotional processes relevant to music.