Imagining Mind Wandering
Mind-wandering research in the cognitive sciences shows that a significant portion of novel ideas and breakthrough “aha!” moments happen when attention is shifted internally, away from tasks in the external environment. However, research has not explored how to encourage these creative mental wanders. Inspired by how exposure to art leads to generating innovative ideas, this project investigates the hypothesis that a digital arts intervention can enhance creative thoughts when mind-wandering.
Do you ever wonder where your creative idea came from? Ever watch a film and marvel in how the author(s) created such an otherworldly landscape or were able to derive such an enticing story from everyday life? Artists seem to be proficient in turning their creative thoughts into a shared reality. Through targeting our mind wanders (aka daydreams), this intervention study aims to entice creative thoughts through regular engagement with digital artworks. Imagine the possibility to train your ability to not only generate, but also engage with your creative ideas. This is one of the aims of my research project.
Muju(무주, 無住) - not staying, 2018 - 2020, courtesy of artist Hana Yoo
NEWS
I will use this page as a space to update the progress of my project, inclusive of any related activities which might be of interest.
OPEN INVITATION TO DIGITAL ARTISTS:
I invite digital artists to get in touch if they are interested in submitting their artwork to be considered for the intervention study. email me at: marjan_sharifi at berkeley.edu
This project has been generously fully funded by the European Commission Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship. The participating institutions in my project include University of California, Berkeley and École normale supérieure.