Tag Archives: artistic

Boost Your Health: The Benefits of Singing, Dancing, and Artistic Expression

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Engaging in the arts promotes health

Discover the Health Benefits of Engaging in the Arts

Miguel Riopa/AFP via Getty Images

Engaging in the arts is not merely a delightful hobby; it significantly contributes to improved health. Recent groundbreaking research indicates that participation in creative activities correlates with decreased inflammation and positive changes in brain health-related proteins.

“We uncovered several new biological pathways that clarify the connection between art and beneficial health outcomes,” stated Daisy Fancourt from University College London.

Over the past decade, accumulating evidence highlights the substantial health benefits associated with participation in music, theater, and various creative arts. For instance, dance programs are shown to aid Parkinson’s patients, while art activities can lead to a lower risk of depression.

Previous studies also indicate that individuals engaged in the arts tend to exhibit lower inflammation levels, thereby enhancing both physical and mental health. However, prior research often focused solely on a few blood markers, limiting its utility. With advancements in technology, it is now possible to analyze hundreds of proteins, providing comprehensive insights into how behavior influences biology.

Utilizing this advanced methodology, Fancourt and colleagues examined data from approximately 6,000 British adults by analyzing one-time blood samples to explore how involvement in the arts links to 184 proteins associated with bodily and brain systems.

The researchers measured the frequency and variety of artistic activities, discovering that increased participation in arts such as dancing, singing, reading, photography, crafting, and attending performances correlates with significant changes in 18 specific proteins.

Tracking data also revealed that individuals actively engaged in the arts exhibited a reduced future risk for several health issues, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, depression, and dementia. Notably, the changes in proteins could explain between 16% and 38% of the link between artistic engagement and improved health, even after adjusting for factors like income and education.

Some affected proteins are crucial for metabolism, while others support brain cell health. Certain proteins also activate pathways that enhance anti-inflammatory processes. “Engaging in the arts may stimulate a rebalancing of the inflammatory system,” notes Fancourt.

“The benefits of engaging in arts activities on health and well-being have long been acknowledged, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear,” commented Darryl O’Connor from the University of Leeds, UK. While the findings need replication in different populations, he emphasizes that the study presents exciting new avenues for exploring how behavior impacts health.

Researchers from King’s College London, including Carmine Pariante, highlight that these findings align with established protective effects of artistic engagement on mental and physical health. However, the current study offers only a temporal snapshot, leaving questions about the duration of exposure to art needed to yield protective benefits.

Fancourt suggested that the next logical step would be to conduct causal studies, monitoring specific proteins before and after individuals participate in various artistic activities.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

An Enchanting Artistic Representation of Marine Life Through the Ages

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Strawberry squid, color lithograph

Smithsonian Library, Washington, DC

The world’s oceans, covering one-tenth of Earth’s surface, are the cradle of life, showcasing an astonishing variety of creatures with diverse shapes, colors, and evolutionary traits.

‘Pilchard (Argentina Carolina)’, hand-colored engraving from Mark Catesby

National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, Maryland

Marine biologist Helen Scale’s latest book, Ocean Art: From the Coast to the Deep, takes readers through 140 stunning photographs and illustrations of underwater vistas and their diverse inhabitants.

Yashima Gakutei, three crabs on the edge of the water

The Met Museum

The realm of art mirrors the diversity of marine life, and Scale expertly intertwines insights about artists with the wonders of oceanic life, blending marine biology with art history.

Cyphonophore (Forscaliatrod), illustration

Library, Woods Hole, MA

“It’s captivating to view the ocean through the perspectives of artists and craftsmen,” Scale noted. “They brilliantly convey the essence of life beneath the surface.”

Mycenaean stirrup vessel featuring an octopus, circa 1200 to 1100 BC

The Met Museum

Throughout history, culture has shown a deep fascination with marine life. The featured artworks include a lithograph of the Strawberry squid (Histioteuthis heteroopsis) from 1851, Catesby’s hand-colored sculpture of the Pilchard (Argentine Carolina) from 1743, a 1830 woodblock print from Japan showing crabs, an 1888 illustration of a siphonophore (Forskalia tholoides), and a Mycenaean jar illustrating an octopus from around 1200 to 1100 BC. Additional ceramic artifacts include lobster-shaped containers from Peru and crabs depicted in Nazca ceramic bowls from the 2nd to 4th centuries.

L: (Peru) “Lobster-shaped Stirrup Vessel”, R: Crab Ceramic Bowl

Left; Walters Art Museum. Right; The Met Museum

Ocean Art is scheduled for release in the UK on August 1st and in the US on September 26th.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Review of Wilmot Works It Out: A Relaxing Puzzle Game Transforming Jigsaw Puzzles into Artistic Masterpieces

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WAnthropomorphic squares have a strange but not undesirable presence. He lives in a spacious empty house, where Sam, the friendly local postman, regularly delivers tiled puzzles. A subscription that never expires. Wilmot unpacks each new shipment and scatters the pieces on the bare floor. Then shunt, grab, and rotate each piece to form a coherent picture. Each picture is drawn by British illustrator Richard Hogg. Once the matching pieces snap together and your artwork is complete, you can hang it on Wilmot’s big empty wall. As soon as one puzzle is completed, Sam arrives with another, and soon Wilmot’s walls are as cluttered and colorful as a search gallery.

Usually, when you finish a painting, some debris will remain, so identify these rogue debris, put them aside (you are free to organize the floor space according to your organization’s requirements) and move them back to their original location. Part of the challenge will be to bring it back to . Once you have all the necessary components. Eventually, you’ll be able to do several puzzles at once, each with varying degrees of completion. It’s this arrhythmia that gives the game its unique feel and makes it more than just a digital jigsaw simulator.

Postwoman Sam’s breezy dialogue tells a tender story through lively exchanges, adding a touch of human warmth to the relentless inscrutability. But as well as Witch Beam’s zen 2021 Bafta winner Unpacking, Willmott works fine. It’s almost a therapeutic approach. The puzzles are not difficult or complicated. Rather, it’s a slow, satisfying game that feels like untangling a complicated knot. This effect is calming, like a jigsaw, but there is a little more room for creative flair when it comes to placing artwork.

Source: www.theguardian.com