Project

In the Western modern tradition, art and aesthetics have often been regarded as having no practical effect. This was not the case in ancient times, and may no longer be the case in the current present.
For centuries people have believed in the therapeutic value of representation: from archaic apotropaic images and incubation rituals to Greek tragedies and epic narrations, from corybantic music to Christian cult of images. Although less powerful from the heuristic point of view, poetic arts were considered more effective than science for understanding the practical world and, through the mediation of emotions, acting on it. Concepts such as that of catharsis, applied to theatrical performance, also implied a broader conception of therapy that involved a holistic approach to the relationship between body and mind.
Only in the modern age, with the detachment of art from religion on the one hand, and the separation of humanities from hard sciences on the other, aesthetics was excluded from the world of life. Until quite recently, art was confined to the sphere of phantasy and imputed to a creativity separated from the practical activities.
In the last decades we have been confronted with new opportunities to rethink the practical implications of art, rediscovering how representations (particularly through digital audiovisual technologies) can vivify the functionality of cognitive and imaginative processes, as well as our emotional and relational capacities.
Our project aims to act with updated means but old principles, creating a dialogue between ancient therapeutic visions of aesthetics with contemporary ones: this way we expect to bring out the basis of a new practical aesthetics, capable of providing tools for health technologies and even suggesting some digital solutions for health and care systems, making intelligent use of means, such as digitals ones, not always used in an appropriate and positive manner.
The theoretical investigation will be complemented with the clinical research on two case studies: the development of an Audiovisual Identity Card for patients with dementia, in the context of the Memofilm project, and the implementation of targeted self-representative “Video-medications” for youths affected by autism spectrum disorder, in the context of the Videopharmakon project.
Audiovisual tools can be successfully applied in reducing some typical symptoms of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders, helping reconstruct identity or relational capacities. This approach could have a great impact on the health care system, as well as on the educational system and social inclusion in general.