Art has the power
to change our world
because the arts have the power
to change each of us.
~ Really? How? When?
for Whom? Why?
Artistic rendering of Tomás Saraceno’s —in orbit (2013-)
K21 Düsseldorf, Germany. Empirical study
by Corinna Kühnapfel/ARTIS Lab, 2023
About Us
ART*IS Lab -Art Research on Transformations of Individuals and Societies - was founded in 2020 by Matthew Pelowski, Associate-Prof. Cognitive and Neuroaesthetics, University of Vienna, Faculty of Psychology.
We are focused on exploring, understanding, and applying, the cognitive, affective, and neuro-physiological processes in our interactions with the designed environment and with visual art.
Via institutional, artistic, and policy partners, we consider Art’s potential as a transformative agent in impacting our beliefs, our behaviors, our health, and our bodies - with a focus on collaborative, transdisciplinary, evidence-based research.
Affiliations
Affiliated Research Lab, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, Steinhardt School at New York University, Jameel Arts & Health Research Network (https://www.jameelartshealthlab.org/research/institutions/university-of-vienna).
Coordinator, EU Horizon 2020 program TRANSFORMATIONS: Societal challenges and the arts (https://artis-h2020.eu/).
Coordinator, Austrian Science Fund (FWF) “Unlocking the Muse: Transdisciplinary approaches to understanding and applying the intersection of artistic creativity and Parkinson’s Disease” (https://unlockingthemuse.univie.ac.at/), with Radboud UMC; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre of Expertise for Parkinson & Movement Disorders (ParC).
Founding Member, Research Network Health in Society, University of Vienna (https://health.univie.ac.at/)
Board Member, Salzburg Institute for Arts in Medicine (SIAM) (Verein der Freunde der Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie Salzburg) (https://www.vereinderfreunde-kjp.org/siam-beirat/).
Member, International Network for the Critical Appraisal of Arts and Health Research. (https://www.vereinderfreunde-kjp.org/siam-internationalnetwork/)
What We Do
Museum and Field-based Studies
We work with (and within) a number of museum, educational, and cultural institution partners to understand how people are engaging the arts - in real life, in ecologically valid institutional, urban, and domestic settings- and employing a range of novel mobile, behavioral, and wearable neurophysiological measures. We address especially the profound, the individual-centered, and the emotional, attitude-changing, or other beneficial, impacts of arts.
Theoretical and Big Data Modelling
Throughout our projects, we employ a specific expertise on understanding, anticipating, and quantifying art experience using a blend of theoretical models (e.g., VIMAP, Pelowsi et al. 2017), which provide the to-date most integrated and nuanced basis for delineating proposed mechanisms and contributing factors in arts engagements. We match top-down theory with bottom-up data, using Network Modelling, Machine Learning, and Latent Profile approaches to identify patterns and actionable hypotheses for future evidence-guided research.
Artistic Creativity, Neurodegeneration, and Neurodiversity
We also develop projects bridging both art reception and artistic production, tackle topics such as the relation between art making or creativity and the brain and the potential for art to act as a window into and a tool for better understanding and addressing neurodiversity or neurodegenerative disease — with programs involving a number of topics such as Autism Spectrum Disorder or Parkinson’s disease.
Arts, Health, Societal and Individual Wellbeing
We are an active member in the ongoing discourse regarding the application of the arts to health and individual/societal development. We especially are concerned in both deriving primary evidence for the existence and nature of effects, as well as discerning mechanisms and necessary factors for interventions, blending policy, evidence (RCTs), and advocating for a broad set of impacts – including hedonic and eudaemonic wellbeing as well as art’s potential for individual growth and change.
Aesthetics and the Urban Environments
What is the impact of design and visual culture in our cities? How does art contribute the wellbeing in the urban space? We employ a blend of on-site empirical and physiological methods, with population-wide statistics, as well as geo-mapping and Ecological Momentary Assessment, to explore the emerging topic of our reactions to the urban space, working especially with a number of policy, community, and non-profit partners in Vienna, which provides an ideal ‘test-bed’ for applications and research.
Digital modalities, AI, VR, AR
We develop projects to explore our new post-digital age, considering the potential but also the pitfalls of digitalization and other (i.e., VR, AR) presentation formats as emerging tools for targeted arts delivery, well-being, and curatorial practice. We also employ our expertise on understanding and assessing the nuanced, profound art experience to consider what might be lost when moving from the gallery and the real work of art, as well as projects on the role of art or other interfaces to act as a meeting point between agents—whether human or AI.
Experience Optimization, Audience Engagement
Both in the form of collaborative research and in a consulting capacity with institutions across the world, we work to better understand the visitor to the arts, to uncover key individual and contextual aspects of their engagements, and to develop new actionable tools for informed understanding and actively designing or mediating their experiences in order to maximize the variety and the benefit that can be derived from the arts.
Arts and the Brain
Our lab also employs a second area of expertise, beyond behavioral/physiological art study, involving the neurophysiological implications of arts engagements. Using especially functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) we conduct mobile, onsite assessments of arts interactions. We also explore especially art’s ability to act as a bridge between individuals or viewers and artists targeting topics such as empathy, emotion communication, and multi-brain hyperscanning.
Artist/Curator Collaboration, Co-creation
We work with a host of contemporary artists, curators, and gallery directors, to collaboratively assess installations, exhibitions, or individual artworks. We blend our expertise in planning and conducting nuanced empirical assessments with the specific aims and intentions of designers, allowing for unique feedback and evidence-based guidance on arts presentations and funded arts projects. We also work in active co-creations of arts experiences, targeting specific individual or societal impacts.
Ongoing Projects
We have an active, diverse, and (some might say, overly) ambitious collection of activities at any given time.
We are always seeking out the spontaneous, the serendipitous, and the collaborative opportunity for research and have a strong track record in seeking (EU, US, and other international) funding.
Funded Programs
Art as an Agent of Transformation-Societal Challenges and the Arts
EU Horizon 2020
Many believe and also would like the arts to be transformative, but how do we actualize this? This project, started in 2020, represents a first-of-its-kind consortium of nine research institutions in the social sciences, Art History, Philosophy, Art education, and Cultural Policy, coordinated by our team. We have the aim to build a systematic program that: Integrates state-of-the-art empirical approaches to investigate specific experiences with art; Connect these to changes at individual (neurocognitive, emotional, health) and societal levels; Capture these in leading museums and urban centers across Europe…
“Unlocking the Muse“–Artistic Creativity and Parkinson’s Disease
Austrian Science Fund (FWF) #ConnectingMinds Consortium Project with Radboud UMC, Donders Institute Centre of Expertise for Parkinson & Movement Disorders (ParC)
Despite a range of motor, cognitive, and perceptual symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD), the fastest growing neurological disorder, an emerging collection of case evidence also suggests potential for a burst of artistic interest and often positive alterations in produced art among patients - as well as uptake among those who previous had no connection to art making. This connection could provide a wealth of opportunities for understanding PD and neurodegeneration, for early detection, arts based therapy, and may provide a unique window into the neurophysiological basis for creativity. However, this topic is also in need of systematic, empirical, transdisciplinary study…
Art Experience in the Post-Digital Age {original | digital | virtual}
Austrian Science Fund (FWF) PI project (National Research Partner with PI: Hanna Brinkmann, Donau Uni. Krems, Belvedere Research Center)
We are in the era of the post-digital age, where technology is ubiquitous in the human experience. This is also increasingly true for arts institutions. Digitalization and digital modalities (VR, AR) are emerging as tools for curatorial practice and offer unique applications for delivering the arts throughout society. However, to understand and apply such technology we need to understand its limitations and opportunities…
Syncing minds beyond the face: Unlocking emotion recognition, communication, and neural synchrony in autistic adults through f-NIRS hyperscanning and visual art.
Austrian Science Fund (FWF) PI Project
Can visual art be a way for people to communicate with, and to connect to, other people? Can it be a way for autistic and non-autistic individuals to better understand the emotions of each other? Can we trace such connections through our artworks, our bodies, and our brains? In this project, we will answer these questions through studies where autistic and non-autistic people express and perceive emotions through abstract drawings, in comparison to facial expressions and language, and using fNIRS hyperscanning…
Fighting Addictions, improving Lives: Comprehensive drug rehabilitation with music (FALCO)
EU Horizon Europe: HORIZON-HLTH-2024-DISEASE-03
One million people are high-risk opioid users in Europe, alongside millions using other illicit substances. Substance Abuse Disorders (SUDs) carry heavy consequences for physical and mental health, are tied to preventable diseases, and to disability or adjusted life years lost. In this new project, lead by NORCE in Bergen Norway, with ARTIS Lab as a workpackage leader for policy and dissemination activities, and 20 partners in 7 countries across Europe, FALCO brings together world-leading experts in research on music therapy, addiction treatment, neuroscience, as well as health policy , to create robust evidence for music-based therapy…
Live Love - Aesthetic and psychospatial connections to cities for wellbeing
EU Horizon Marie Sklodowski-Curie MSCA-PF
Have you wondered what that 'warm and fuzzy' feeling is that you get in some cities? What is it about that feeling that some cities possess and others not? How do we experience this feeling in specific city places or just the urban environment in general? In this project, we explore this feature as an aspect of “loveability” - a somewhat elusive and enigmatic phenomenon that needs to be better understood but which may offer a unique interdisciplinary answer to enriching quality of life in European cities through creative cultural spaces -comparing Barcelona to our local testbed of Vienna (the most 'liveable' city in the world…
Beautifully Sensitive: Art and Beauty Appreciation Intervention for Sensory Processing Sensitivity and Well-being
OEAD Österreichische Austauschdienst-GmbH, Marietta Blau-Stipendium
The industrialized world is increasingly stimulating. Bright 24-hour lights, constant traffic noise, busy crowds, and an inundation of media conflict are now the norm rather than the exception. For approximately 20% of the population with a naturally amplified high trait Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) such constant stimulation makes them more prone to overstimulation, negative environments, and stress-related problems such as burnout, depression, anxiety, fatigue, and poor emotion regulation skills. At the same time, differential susceptibility theory suggests that individuals high in SPS also benefit more from positive environments and interventions designed to prevent or ameliorate psychological symptoms. In this program, we aim to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention that helps individuals appreciate beauty in their environment…
The Psycho-Ludic Approach: Exploring play for a viable future
FWF Arts-Based Research PEEK (National Research Partner with PI: Univ. Prof. Dr. phil. Margarete Jahrmann, University of Applied Arts Vienna)
The current global crises demonstrate that human strategies based on exploitation have come to an end. These strategies, now leading to failure, are reflected in games and their mechanics: it's all about winning, accruing possessions, conquering new worlds. Using methods of artistic research, experimental psychology, and neuroscience in a combination that we term the PSYCHO-LUDIC APPROACH, we will investigate alternative motivations for game-playing, how we can learn from these about possible future forms of society, and whether, by using new game mechanisms in experimental, playful contexts we may unlock better means of mediating reflection, thoughts, and action...
Your Emotional City (Deine Emotionale Stadt)
Berlin University Alliance (BUA) – Exploration Projects Global Health: “Exploring and Designing Urban Density. Neurourbanism as a Novel Approach in Global Mental Health” (International Research Partner with PIs Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin; Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin School of Mind and Brain)
Urbanization is a global phenomenon and poses pressing health challenges as urban dwellers carry a high risk for mental ill-health. Social stress due to built or population density might play a major role here, yet interactions with other environmental and health risk factors are still poorly understood. “Your Emotional City” is a joint project of Interdisziplinäres Forum Neurourbanistik e. V., Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Futurium – House of the Futures. Funded by the Berlin University Alliance as part of the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments. Using a specially designed app and a citizen science/ecological momemtary assessment framework, we track individuals’ wellbeing and emotional/aesthetic responses to the city …
Who We Are
We are a very international lab with members from (to date) 4 continents, 9 countries, and blending perspectives in psychology and neuroscience with backgrounds and past lives in aesthetics, philosophy, drama, music, architecture, curation, and the visual arts.
We also work in collaboration with a range of artists, non-profits, cultural stakeholders, and other academics in clinical medicine, design, epidemiology, and social science, internationally and across the the EU.
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Matthew Pelowski
Head of the ARTIS Lab and Associate Professor of Cognitive and Neuroaesthetics in the Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna…
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Ava Alvarez
PhD Cand: A Texas native. She joined our team in 2024. Inspired by Walter Benjamin’s concept of the aura, Ava is working on a joint project with the University of Krems and the Belvedere Museum…
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Paula Angermair
PhD Cand: Paula began her PhD journey in November 2023, returning to her hometown of Vienna after an academic tour-du-monde. As part of the Unlocking the Muse team…
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Draško Boko
Project Manager: Since 2020 Drasko has been the PM for the EU Horizon Artis Lab umbrella project.
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Theresa Demmer
PhD Cand: A PhD candidate since 2022, she uses behavioural and neuro- physiological methods to investigate emotional connections through art…
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Srestha Chakraborty
PhD Cand: Originally from India, Srestha moved to Vienna in 2023 as a PhD candidate. Their research employs a decolonial framework to explore how the arts foster prosociality and bridge diverse sociocultural communities…
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Young Ah Kim
PhD Cand: Co-PI on a project, started in 2023, focusing on how autistic and non-autistic people communicate emotions through art/drawings and using fNIRS hyperscanning….
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Christina Makri
PhD Cand: Christina is a second-year PhD candidate from Greece and has been with the ARTIS Lab since August 2022. Her research is centered around death…
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Steph Miller
PhD Cand: Steph has been with the ARTIS Lab since February 2022. Her research investigates the scope and variety of emotional/phenomenal experiences with art…
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Mizan Rambhoros
Postdoc (Marie Curie): Mizan joined ARTIS Lab in February 2023 as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action Postdoctoral Fellow (MSCA-PF) working on the EU-funded project LIVE-LOVE…
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Blanca T.M. Spee
Postdoc: Splitting time between Vienna and Radboud UMC in the Netherlands, Blanca currently works on the FWF funded #ConnectingMinds Project “Unlocking the Muse…
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MacKenzie Trupp
PhD Cand: Hailing from Canada, MacKenzie has been a PhD Candidate in the ARTIS lab since 2020, working at the intersection of art experiences and health. Her research focuses on how art viewing might support well-being…
Emeriti
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Corinna Kühnapfel
Corinna completed her PhD at the ARTIS Lab from 2020-2023 and is now a Postdoc at Humbolt Universität zu Berlin. In her dissertation research, she investigated the role of the body in art…
Special Guests
The ARTIS Lab is happy to welcome artists, researchers, or other guests for short or longer periods. We have been lucky to host a number of wonderful people at various stages of their academic careers and with a wide range of backgrounds and interests, If you want to join our eclectic and at times chaotic, but also supportive environment, or pursue an Erasmus or other international funding, get in touch!
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University of Skövde, Sweden. Erasmus+ Student Mobility for Traineeships
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Università degli Studi di Milano – Bicocca, Milan, IT. 2024, Funded International Lab visit.
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KU Leuven, Belgium, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences. 2024, FWO (Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek; Research Foundation - Flanders) Travel Grant for a long stay abroad.
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Università Cattolica del Sarco Cuore, Milan, IT. Study Abroad for Research.
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Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome, IT. International Mobility Traineeship.
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University of Trieste, IT. Erasmus+ Student Mobility for Traineeships.
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Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, DE. Erasmus + Project MIX IT - Internships for Students and Graduates.
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Middle East Technical University, Ankara, TR. International Doctoral Research Grant, The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK).
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Ruhr-Universität Bochum, DE. Erasmus+ Student Mobility for Traineeships.
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Super intern and all around great person who dropped into our lives and stuck around through multiple projects. Now pursuing a Research Masters in Psychology at the University of Amsterdam.