Technology visualising impact of art on human brainwaves coming to Wakefield as part of UK-wide tour
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Visitors to The Hepworth Wakefield will have the opportunity to see the impact art has on their brainwaves later this month. The new technology, which shows brainwaves in real time and in 3-D, is being brought to West Yorkshire by Art Fund - the national charity for art - as part of a UK-wide tour.
Visitors will be able to test the technology out for themselves in A Living Collection at The Hepworth Wakefield between 10am-1pm on Friday 31st May and 10am-5pm on Saturday 1st June.
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Hide AdBy illustrating the impact of art on our brains and emotions, Art Fund hopes to encourage visiting museums and galleries with a National Art Pass, which allows people to enjoy free entry to hundreds of museums, galleries and historic houses across the UK as well as 50 per cent off major exhibitions and discounts in museum shops and cafes.


The project highlights how people’s brains are stimulated when they experience art in museums and galleries, and aims to help answer the question of the fundamental value of art and the impact it has on us. Visitors of all ages are invited to take part by viewing art or artefacts while wearing a headset that is connected to an electroencephalogram (EEG) monitor. The outputs of their brainwaves as they react to the art are then visualised on-screen in 3D and real-time.
Aside from Wakefield, the brainwaves experience has so far visited museums and galleries in Bath and Guildford, and will also be visiting Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Warwickshire throughout the summer.
Research commissioned to accompany the project found that while 95 per cent of adults in Yorkshire and the Humber agree that visiting museums and galleries is beneficial, nearly four in ten (39 per cent) of those visit less than once a year and around one in eight (14 per cent) adults in Yorkshire believe that art has no impact on them. However, the technology allows users to see the clear and immediate effect art can have on the human brain.
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Hide AdArt Fund Director, Jenny Waldman, said: “This technology shows how art can improve our wellbeing and emotions. Audiences love seeing the visualisation of their brainwaves when they look at different paintings and objects in museums, so we are thrilled to take this technology on tour. We hope that by bringing the experience to West Yorkshire, we can inspire more people to visit the amazing museums and galleries we have on our doorsteps, such as The Hepworth Wakefield.”
Olivia Colling, Deputy Director at The Hepworth Wakefield, said: “It is a real pleasure to be able to host this technology here at The Hepworth Wakefield amongst sculptures by Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore made during the height of their careers in the 1960s, as well as some of the most recent paintings to join our collection by contemporary artists such as Jadé Fadojutimi, Lewis Hammond and Caragh Thuring made in the last decade.
“It will be fascinating to physically see the impact that experiencing the broad range of art works on display can have on us all. We’re looking forward to welcoming visitors to test out this exciting technology, and to show how a visit to your local art gallery or museum can positively impact your mindset and wellbeing.”
Exhibition entry is £13/£11/FREE for Members, Wakefield District residents and under 18s. National Art Pass holders will get 50 per cent off the price of their ticket (£6.50).
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Hide AdNon-Wakefield families can get 50 per cent off adult tickets when visiting with children/under 18s during the half-term holidays.
For more information about the brainwaves tour, visit: www.artfund.org/brainwaves
For more information about National Art Pass, visit: www.artfund.org/national-art-pass
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