event two blog | JohnnyleungDESMA9

 This week I attended a presentation on the relationship between art and neurology. Much of the artworks focused on producing a material artwork from the unconscious or mental activity from the human brain. Some of the outcomes would be drawings, sounds/patterns, and lights translated from alpha brainwaves through encephalography, or the measure of the electrical activity from the brain.

Artists that produced works based on just the signals from users, like Nina Sobell's Brainwave Drawings or Alvin Lucier's Music for a Solo Performer, presented the audience with either nonsensical compositions or eerie and unsettling emotions from sound. Personally, I found that the sounds produced in these types of projects to be highly uncomfortable. This is not to say the artworks have no value, but that they serve their goal in answering the question, "what if we could see or hear what our brains are doing?" but beyond that, it is hard to find personal connection or relation to these artworks as the viewer. Hopefully, as technology and artwork progress, perhaps we can collect translate and transform the electrical signals from the brain into works that are further from glorified seismograms. 

Alvin Lucier's "Music for Solo Performer" (1965). Retrieved from YouTube.

On the other hand, some artworks like Suzanne Diker's Mutual Wave Machine, felt much more intimate and personal in the way it portrays the connection between humans and our unconscious and conscious states. The Mutual Wave Machine illustrated the brain wave synchronization between two users, often partners, and had lights that correlated to their EEG signals (Diker). Using EEG technology to deepen and highlight interpersonal connections surpasses the academic nature of this artform; much like how Lisa Park's Eunoia II, despite being self-focused, manages to portray the connection between neurology and emotion through physical reality. Her use of speakers and water, in addition to the circular composition of bowls, fully demonstrates how loud our emotions are, figuratively and literally.

Suzanne Dikker's The Mutual Wave Machine. Retrieved from YouTube.

Lisa Park's Eunoia II. Retrieved from YouTube.

Overall, artworks involving encephalography over the past few decades have been evolving - from the technologically limited use of scrambled drawings and unorderly sounds, to the compositions and machines used to illustrate a state of mind and provide a commentary. I look forward to the progression of this artform, as I think it has tremendous potential to deepen our understanding of the mind and body.

Screenshot of registration/attendance, taken by author.

Works Cited

Conceição, Carlos. "Alvin Lucier - "Music for Solo Performer" (1965)", 27 Nov. 2010, 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch? 

    v=bIPU2ynqy2Y&ab_channel=CarlosConcei%C3%A7%C3%A3o

Dikker, Suzanne. "the mutual wave machine", 2013-2019, 

    http://www.suzannedikker.net/mutualwavemachine#background

Dikker, Suzanne. "The Mutual Wave Machine: EYE Amsterdam, 2013", 29 April 2014,    

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buQa-kCT96s&ab_channel=SuzanneDikker

Lucier, Alvin. "Music for Solo Performer", 1982, https://archive.org/details/alvin-lucier 

    -music-for-solo-performer

Park, Lisa. "Eunoia II (Beautiful thought; 아름다운 생각 ll) from Lisa Park", YouTube, 

    YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXMXqULrEWg&ab_channel=LisaPark

Park, Lisa. "Eunoia (Version 2)", 2014, https://www.thelisapark.com/work/eunoia2

Sobell, Nina. "Brainwave Drawings", 1972, 

    http://www.ninasobell.com/ninasobell/index_menu.html