Ramón y Cajal, "The Beautiful Brain" (Gallery visit and thoughts)

Ramon y Cajal's work crosses many fields of grey area in its investigation of grey matter. The studies, or sketches may seem to lack validity in terms of a scientific artifice. But this is somewhat of a 21 century view. My opinions of scientific referent in art have not been favorable in the past, however these drawings are striking perhaps for their fiction, or science fictional rhetoric. How beautiful to see someone look beyond what we see in our reality, question how we approach the core of our experience only to discover a new reality and decide that it was source material not to be didactically retorted through literary documentation, but illustrated.

Aldous Huxley writes in his 1956 essay, "Knowledge and Understanding" definitions for the terms citing the latter as a verb. This is important in reference to Cajal's work. These are subtle works of fiction, but of a fiction that touches so close to our sensual core. While viewing these works, there is a strange mirroring as we imagine such synapses processing what we see. It is an echo, at least, which brings us to appreciate pliable textures of the penmanship with the paper. His composition decisions are not always ideal, however of course he is working somewhat with one hand tied to the role of scientific document.

Certainly now we get to see very readable and elaborate investigations of science. We have the Hubble telescope dramatizing gaseous plumes of matter into all spectrum of colour and texture. CCTV vouches for likeness and suffices for evidence. These drawings however are historical artifacts drawn from a reality we did not have the proper tools to create realistic facsimile from. The wealth of imagery in the show is not daunting because of the limited colour pallet. I enjoy how I embellishes on the font he uses in the more literal diagrams. It serves as a reminder that the artist and scientist are trying to preserve and achieve a certain credibility for the quality of the artifacts.