November 15 2024
Keil Space: Where Art, Senses, and Healing Converge
Keil Space does not seek to oppose traditional art, but to immerse visitors in a personal sensory journey
Featuring Keil Space Written by An Li Editor Yitong Zhang & Yuchen Hou
Prologue
Keil Space in Florence, Italy, is more than just an art venue—it’s a multisensory journey created by artist Sam Keil. Keil's work seeks to transform the traditional art-viewing experience, offering visitors a unique blend of sight, sound, and scent that resonates deeply and lingers long after the visit.
Samantha Keil
Sam Keil’s artistic journey spans several decades, inspired by various art forms with the foundation of craftsmanship, which is especially illustrated in her sculpture works. She was trained at prestigious institutions such as the Royal Academy of Fine Art, where she refined her sculptural techniques. Early in her career, Keil’s fascination with music theory and dance, particularly the works of Nijinsky and Nureyev, led her to explore how rhythm and movement can be expressed in static art forms. This influence is evident in her First Generation Bronzes, which emphasize anatomy and the fluidity of the human body.
Together with Keil’s later works, the Second Generation Bronzes and New Generation Bronzes, Keil Space was inspired and introduced to the general public. These works deliver their beauty beyond the physical form, by discovering the physiological and perceptual fields that strike the inner state of the audience. Keil’s work with sound, light, and color culminates in the creation of Keil Space, where her sculptures are displayed as part of a broader sensory environment.
Keil Space: A Form of Advanced Art
Keil Space occupies 500 square meters at the south of Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence, Italy. Over the years, many have been in love with traditional and typical styles of art in Italy and many other European countries, which often leave a classic and old-school impression on the audience, as if you would close your eyes and let your mind wander, “am I traveling back in time?” Nonetheless, Keil Space does not intend to make an enemy of traditional art but to immerse the audience in a journey of their own senses, which defines Keil Space as Advanced Art (contemporary art that transcends traditional art by incorporating modern technology or science). Unlike most traditional artwork for which one is presented with a particular form of art, Keil Space thrives in the field of Advanced Art and offers a spot where one gets to delve into their own feelings within the art piece and feel free to discover the inner and outer at their own pace.
Here is the specialty of Keil Space: Upon entering the Space, visitors would immediately feel the difference between reality and fantasy. This unique design—a dark, futuristic entrance—readies the visitors by foreshadowing the later sensory crashes. Guests would be encouraged to leave any distractions behind and focus solely on the present moment while exploring the Space. In addition, visitors would be asked to experience the Space individually while engaging with the art design on a deeply personal level.
The inside of Keil Space is crafted to involve five of the five senses—sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. Once inside the Space, visitors are greeted with a pleasant aroma that motivates them to explore further. Such surrounding scent serves to evoke calmness and introspection within the visitors themselves, while gentle, rhythmic sounds make up a comfy backdrop to the art viewing experience. As the neuroimaging techniques in Schott’s study tell us, subjective experiences of beauty and emotional responses are linked to cognitive processes. The findings of this research conclude that beauty perception involves complex neural networks, incorporating sensory input, emotions, and reward systems, suggesting that making use of sensory inputs might enhance people’s experience of understanding and appreciating art.
Keil Space is divided into several rooms, each showcasing a different series of Keil’s works. The room featuring First Generation Bronzes focuses on the bodies’ physical form as well as its relation to spatial beauty, while the Second Generation Bronzes explores light, shadow, and energy. The New Generation section takes this unique sensory experience to its peak, with vibrant colors and surprising sounds that elicit deep emotional responses.
The Psychology Behind
One of the key missions of Keil Space is to heal and transform the audience with the hand of art. This mission ties in with the modern concept of Advanced Art, one that activates not only the eyes that witness art but also the mind and body, allowing a sense of self-peace and introspection to take place in the world of art. Moreover, this idea of art healing is supported by research in the field of neuroaesthetics, the study of how art affects the brain and emotions. For example, in her research article titled Your Brain on Art: The Case for Neuroaesthetics, Susan Magsamen points out that viewing art activates several regions of the brain, including the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in higher-level thinking, and the reward system, linked to pleasure and motivation. Also, the brain imaging from this study shows that regions associated with empathy, memory, and emotion processing are involved when engaging with artwork, supporting the idea that art has the power to elicit deep emotional experiences.
Last but not least, the research results support the therapeutic applications of art in enhancing emotional well-being, as by engaging neural circuits associated with positive emotions, art can reduce stress and promote mental health, which corresponds to the growing use of art therapy in clinical settings. Keil has shown interest in the therapeutic potential of art, and Keil Space was designed with this in mind. On Keil Space’s Instagram, numerous visitors have described their experience at Keil Space as deeply therapeutic, with many reported feelings of calmness and relief, as well as some amazement and appreciation.
Samantha Keil’s long-term vision for Keil Space is to create art that emphasizes inclusiveness and accessibility. She believes that art can also be a tool for self-care and healing, open to all individuals regardless of their background or prior experience with art, and not merely something to look at and later forget. As a result, this approach has targeted and attracted an audience from diverse social, geographical, and professional backgrounds, who have expressed multitudes of positive comments on Keil Space, despite such background differences among the visitors. From a relatively more professional point of view, psychiatrists who have examined the effects of Keil Space noted that the multisensory experience at the Space serves as a “stimulus for exploration” and a “vehicle for a dialogue about human interiority.” While everyone after experiencing Keil Space would think of and reflect on different aspects, Keil Space, in general, helps establish and foster a sense of unity and shared humanity within the space, the audience, and their interactions. Whether it is a sense of inner peace, a newfound understanding of themselves, or a deeper connection with universal or natural values, visitors often find themselves leaving Keil Space feeling enriched and fulfilled.
Among the vast amounts of research on art and therapy as well as the impact of art on mental well-being, QDAS, a British company excelling in qualitative data research, has conducted data analysis research that noted participants’ experiences after visiting Keil Space. Qualitative data research, as the name suggests, collects data in the form of an interview that serves to open the accessibility of artistic dialogue of different qualities, such as what do you think of Keil Space? What have you perceived from the first-generation bronze? Second-generation bronze? and describe their feelings about the atmosphere of Keil Space after visiting it. The qualities discussed most are peace, relaxation, curiosity, imagination/freedom, connection, focus, meditation, enlightenment, and so on. The ambiance (visual art, soothing sounds, and pleasant scent) at Keil Space truly takes on the quest to facilitate self-reflection, emotional release, and a sense of reconnection with visitors themselves and other people, through which we come to see therapeutic and emotional reactions performing their magics. Cognitively, visitors have been active throughout their visit to Keil Space, with increased concentration levels during their time in the Space. This was attributed to the immersive, distraction-free environment, where external stimuli like phones were discouraged. Such high focus inside the Space also allowed for deeper observation and thinking of the artworks, leading to contemplation and meditation during the visit. At the New Generation Bronze exhibit section, the unique elements, including but not limited to the shapes and colors, play a role in stimulating visitors’ imaginations. Within Keil Space, many have said that they felt developing creativity and new ways of thinking about art. Not only the content of thinking, the multisensory elements of Keil Space also piqued visitors’ reason and origin of thinking, also known as curiosity, inspiring the visitors to explore the space with a sense of wonder and intrigue.
A Vision for the Future
So far, Keil Space has already made a profound impact by blending advanced art, multisensory engagement, and therapeutic principles to create an inclusive and transformative art experience.
Keil Space’s current success is majorly concluded by its ability to engage visitors through a combination of sight, sound, and scent. This can make Keil Space more personalized for each visitor and enhance the immersive nature of the experience, allowing even more and deeper cognitive and emotional engagement.
From the QDAS study, the results show how Keil Space fosters deep thinking, emotional release, and self-connection. In the future, one may not feel surprised to see Keil Space collaborating with mental health professionals and institutions to develop specific art therapy programs, targeting clients with particular demands, such as those who suffer from stress, anxiety, PTSD, etc.
Speaking of programs and demands, education is always a building stone of everything. Keil Space’s commitment to advancing art with modern technology and science can also be introduced and learned from structured educational programs that focus on the role of art in society as well as the history of art. Workshops, presentations, and public speeches can encourage more people to perceive and regard art in a deeper way, signifying the significance of Advanced Art in modern society and in the future.
Additionally, partnerships with schools and universities can help introduce and teach future students the principles of multisensory art and its therapeutic effects, and research studies on them will hopefully attract and train future professionals of art and Advanced Art. Moreover, education programs that highlight the intersection of art and science—such as neuroaesthetics—may lead to interdisciplinary collaboration in the future, allowing artists, psychologists, neuroscientists, and educators to work together on understanding the profound impact art has on the human brain.
All images courtesy of Keil Space
References
Farrell, J. (2023, November 6). Multi-sensory experiences at Keil Space reawaken advanced art | The Florentine. The Florentine. https://www.theflorentine.net/2023/11/06/multi-sensory-experiences-at-keil-space-reawaken-advanced-art/
How can arts heal and unite? Keil Space Case study. (Unknow year). Keil Space. QDAS study on Kail Space. How arts can heal and unite.
hueandeye. (2024, August 29). Keil Space Case Study | How can Arts Heal and Unite? - Hue & Eye. Hue & Eye. https://www.hueandeye.org/keil-space-case-study-how-can-arts-heal-and-unite/
Keil Bronze - Timelessness Bronze Sculptures (Florence, Italy). (2024, February 8). Keil Bronze. https://keilbronze.com/
Keil Space for Advanced Arts & Multi-sensory experience. (2024, July 16). Keil Space Florence. https://keilspace.com
Keil Space is excited to launch the autumn art season and warmly invites residents and visitors of Florence to experience a unique multisensory journey. (2024, September 17). Art Week. https://www.artweek.com/events/italy/art-other/florence/keil-space-excited-launch-autumn-art-season-and-warmly-invites
Magsamen, S. (2019). Your Brain on Art: The Case for Neuroaesthetics. Cerebrum: The Dana Forum on Brain Science, 2019. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7075503/
Sam Keil - Exceptional Pieces. (2019, August 5). Exceptional Pieces. https://www.exceptionalpieces.com/sam-keil-2/
Schott, G. D. (2015). Neuroaesthetics: exploring beauty and the brain. Brain, 138(8), 2451–2454. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awv163
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