body: how art and neuroscience can be used for transformation with kinda studios
Over the last year, so many of our lives have changed beyond anything that we could have imagined. Whilst the world has paused and many of us have slowed down, there has been a lot of time and space for reflection. Looking at the way we were living and uncovering how we can do things differently. Spending time alone, without the chaos and distractions we had built around us. There have been some life changing lessons that have been learnt, especially about what we value and the impact that our behaviour has on the world around us. Hopefully we have understood that taking responsibility really is at the foundation of our growth and if we want to change the world around us, it starts with us.
Science can help us to form part of the understanding we are searching for. It can not only bring an explanation to the way that we move, but how are bodies and our minds connect and how we interconnect with our ever changing ecosystem. Meet scientific pioneers Robyn Landau and Katherine Templar-Lewis who have formed Kinda Studios. A creative science studio using neuroscience to enhance human connection and wellbeing. They translate insight from research labs into creative applications to educate, enhance everyday experience and unlock agency, creativity, and wellbeing.
For anyone learning about neuroscience for the first time, what is it and how do you work with it?
Neuroscience is the study of the neural correlates in our brain, which guides our decision making, feelings, actions, thinking, creativity, learning, memory and more. A lot of the time people think of neuroscience and think only of the brain. But in fact, our brain lives inside our bodies as well via our nervous system, in an ongoing conversation with each other. Our studio specifically focuses on a field within neuroscience called neuroaesthetics which is the neuroscience of aesthetic experience. It investigates how we form preferences, and how experiences shape how we feel. This can be anything from visiting an art gallery, to listening to music, walking in nature or dancing at a party. Ultimately, every experience we have, no matter how big or small shapes our state of being, and we look at the brain-body connection amongst those experiences to help us understand them more fully, so we can experience more fully, and live more fully!
You use science to prove the power of art on human connection and wellbeing. How do they interconnect?
Science allows us to objectively measure the inner workings of both our brain and body. That means the neurochemicals that are released when we hug someone, our physiological response to seeing dancers in movement, the brain networks that light up when listening to a song we love, or simply the massive natural high we get from sharing a dance floor with both friends and strangers. Those are all hugely powerful art experiences that shape our connection to ourselves, others and the environment, and ultimately, are the real markers of our wellbeing. However, it’s really important to note that science simply can’t tell us the full story of what’s happening. There are certain things which can’t be measured. At least not yet. Those intangible experiences that allow us to make meaning to our lives - those which we call here in our studio, the felt experience are equally important. That is fundamental to the human experience. Which is why everything we do sits at that intersection of evidence-based science and the felt experience.
Right now the world is going through a huge transformation, why do you think this is happening at this time?
Pandemics have always existed in human history, but this is the first one to have happened in our collective experience. What it has presented to us is a ‘black swan’ moment, which is an opportunity to step outside of ourselves for a bit and assess what is working and what isn’t. This provides an opportunity for change, and essentially transformation. This has been an incredibly challenging time for people. We’re all hugely imbalanced in human connection markers like oxytocin, serotonin and cortisol. However, transformative experiences aren’t linear and sometimes, as individuals or a collective, we undergo challenges that bring us into the depths of our human experience in order to learn, grow and expand, and emerge more resilient, more intelligent and more connected.
Feeling isolated has meant that many of us have become more reliant on tech than ever before. How can we ensure that we stay connected to one another without becoming reliant on our devices?
100% this hasn’t been more true. We actually were just introduced to the term ‘screen apnea’ which is when we sit in front of screens for so long, we disconnect from our bodies and actually stop breathing for moments of time. In this always-on digital world, the pathways of our brain’s reward and feel good system, (dopamine) have been hijacked by digital and multisensory pollution. We get a dopamine hit every time our phone beeps, and it means we have all been using tech in ways that oftentimes, deplete us. What we can do, is form new tech rituals and habits to feed our neurochemicals in more natural ways. Switching our phones onto airplane mode for pieces of the day, or just putting it into a different room, anywhere out of sight can help us refocus our attention. It’s important for us to have separation in our day, and that might mean specific times for tech. Remembering to create more ‘analogue’ rituals is fundamental to this. Ensuring we step outside for a lunchtime walk actually helps restore our attention and reduce our cortisol levels. Go out to your local park and smile at a stranger, speak to your local barista, pet an animal, join a virtual dance party with your camera off so you’re not glued to your screen, but feel the presence of others, make some art and send it to a friend in the post, send each other flowers, take cuttings from plants and drop them at your friends’ doors! The possibilities are endless if we just use a little creativity.
Touch and sensory experiences are part of what makes us human and over the last year our behaviours have changed dramatically. What impact might this have on us and what can we do to counteract it?
Absolutely. We experience the world through these sensorial organisms which we call our bodies, and those sensory interactions are fundamental to the human experience. We’d first and foremost recommend getting back in touch with your hands. Making something, a piece of art, a new recipe, planting new seeds in the garden are all ways to connect back into the senses, enter a state of flow and become one with the act, which counteracts the many distractions and stress we experience throughout our days. The importance of touch is one thing that has been made absolutely clear this year. The sensation of touch is related to the release of both oxytocin and serotonin and there are other ways to get these back into our systems. Even just stroking your own arm can do wonders for a sense of nourishment. Staring into someone else’s eyes, petting an animal, or even doing collective experiences with people, even if they are digital and online. Try and partake in digital experiences that get you into your bodies and off your butt. The group energy can still be felt and experienced in our bodies even if virtually. There is something called physiological synchrony, which is when our heartbeats and brainwaves move in time with one another when we are all doing a shared experience be it dancing or just listening to music with others. Studies have shown that this is still happening to a degree through digital experiences, and even just the comfort of knowing that makes a big difference.
How can art be used for transformation?
Art carries with it hugely rich emotional content. There’s actually something called “The Rothko Effect” which is this vast, transformative sense of mysticism and emotion people get when looking at a Rothko painting. We call these “Aesthetic Emotions''. Emotion is inherent in art, and when we’re experiencing this, we too, experience its emotional content. Although, we consciously know this emotion does not belong to us, which provides a psychological distance from ourselves and the piece. This means we feel more safe to process that emotion, knowing it does not, “belong to us”. And it’s this, that gives us a sense of “being moved” by a piece or left transformed from the experience. We’ve all had the experience of feeling good after listening to a sad song, a sense of pleasure in a horror film, or embodying the experiences of characters in a fiction novel. These are all examples of us processing our own emotions through these external aesthetic experiences, which is one of the fundamental benefits of art on our wellbeing.
What have you found have been some of the biggest breakthroughs through lockdown and how will they impact the world once things start to lift?
The biggest breakthrough that’s emerged from lockdown is the recognition that human connection is fundamental to our wellbeing, and that the conversation around mental health is no longer limited to a distinct group. The emotional vocabulary, and the recognition that this impacts everyone in varying degrees and varying ways has grown dramatically. And as a result of that, there are new programmes being adapted to help cater to a wider group of people, including some coming out from us later this year! There are simply more people paying attention to how they feel on a day to day basis. We’re having so many more conversations where when you ask someone “How are you today?” people answer with a bit more honesty, versus presenting an external reality that doesn’t match how they’re actually feeling. We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and when we emerge into the world again, it will be different, we will move through it differently and we will engage in it together, collectively, and we truly believe that new scientific and cultural programmes will better serve the needs of the nation.
Kinda Studios works with partners at the forefront of science, technology and the creative arts to help people think, experience and feel differently. Defined by collaboration, creativity, connection and curiosity, they work with brands, institutions, scientists and artists to create powerful experiences that enhance wellbeing. Find out more about their work and connect with them here.
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