Empathize with my Gaze

Premise Arts can use new fundamental technologies, shedding light on invisible dimensions of the artistic experience. Among these, the creative act is certainly the most hidden aspect. The 'Empathize with my gaze' performance aims to deepen the fascinating and magmatic field of artistic perception. This topic has been investigated in previous studies by our research team. For example, by using quantitative assessment methodologies, the relationship between visitors and artwork in different contexts has been accurately analyzed. In this way, it has been possible to examine how a specific pictorial behavior would have brought the observer to follow a certain pathway in the fruition of the artwork. Within the field of Neuro-Aesthetics, this research line encourages scholars to examine further aspects, up to the specific moment of the creative act. In this work, the creative act of a contemporary artist is explored. The possibility to share the experience of the artistic creation by showing the artist's eye-tracking data would reduce the physical and metaphorical barrier between the artist and his public. In this way, in fact, the artwork is presented while it is created through the artist's gaze. With wearable eye-trackers, the artist will paint on the spot on a transparent panel. Therefore, the artist will share the creative act and its outcomes with the public. So, the fruition of an artwork is enriched by new dimensions, which are undoubtedly among the most substantial of the whole pictorial creation: the eyesight and the cognitive processes which are linked to it.