Carving Out Creativity

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Rodney Kimbangu

Step into the world of Carving Out Creativity, an exciting collaboration that explores how stone carving in group settings can boost mental health, strengthen social bonds, and even affect brain activity.

Visitors are invited to dive into the wonders of the creative brain through dynamic visualizations of brain activity and video documentation of local stone carvers at work. Visitors are able to touch a carved sculpture and interact with other sculptures at different exhibition locations through a unique visual and touch interface. The immersive sounds and images bring the energy of brain activity and the act of creation to life.

This project – created by Virginia Tech’s Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT) – involved a team of engineers, neuroscientists, and artists interested in expanding the ways we experience art.

While sculptors from the New River Valley participated in stone carving workshops, the ICAT team collected behavioral data from stone carvers about their feelings of wellbeing, social connection, and energy before and after stone carving.

The Taubman Museum of Art is pleased to be one of four locations to present the findings of the ICAT research in this immersive art installation.