Simon Sellars: Sleepy Brain Archives

review by Andres Vaccari

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One of the most exciting things about the digital age is the close collaboration of art and science in areas like the visual arts, animation, architecture and music. It is true that art and science have always been sisters (look at Leonardo DaVinci, for example). But with the arrival of the modern age, science and art became increasingly divorced, apportioned their own distinct roles and identities. So, it is refreshing to encounter works of art that break the barrier between scientist and artist, and which involve the skills of both; works that endeavour to create aesthetic effects through heavily technoscientific means that are traditionally the province of the laboratory or medical diagnosis.
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The project “Listening to the Mind Listening” offered a series of works of this kind. It was conceived as part of ICAD 2004, the International Conference on Auditory Display, and billed as the first ever “Concert of Brain Activity”. Ten electronic artists from all over the world were selected to render sonifications of brain data, which was then “translated” into a piece of music. EEG data from different areas of the brain was recorded from a person listening to a piece of music. Heartbeat, respiration and electro-dermal signals were also obtained and thrown into the mix, amounting to a total of 36 channels of data. The result was on display at The Opera House Studio, in Sydney (on July 8), and was played on a 16-channel 3D system. At the end of the night, the identity of the person and of the piece of music was revealed: brain scientist Evian Gordon listening to a piece by David Page, “Dry Mud”.

Each composer or team had to submit a detailed report of their working methods and how they went about transforming the information into music. Reading the submissions, it is clear that none of these artist-scientists pretended to produce a realistic depiction of the complex pyrotechnics of the mind. In all cases, the raw data became the basis for the production of a pleasing, listenable piece of music, and underwent heavy doctoring along the way. The details are mind-boggingly technical, but basically the challenge consisted in, first, smoothing out and reducing the amount of data by applying filters, sampling rates, thresholds and various other parameters. Then, each channel was translated into a series of values, which were then transformed into sound elements (pitch volume, sound wave, etc). On top of this, the artists also had to spatialise the sound, assigning the data values that could be translated into spatial differences. Each of the composers chose their own different route, and there was a considerable amount of freedom, which is evident in the diverse character of the pieces. Yet, certain elements remained common to all of them, in particular a certain rhythm and structure that was quite distinct.

The audience was invited to mingle in the room and walk around. Each corner of the space offered a different perspective on the sound pieces. The effect was that of ambulating in the insides of a brain, touring the strange and complex electromagnetic dance behind our thoughts and feelings. In particular, the rhythm of the pieces produced a strange hypnotic effect, since the beats were synchronic with those of the listening brain, and thus the music remained always one step ahead of the computational powers of the listener. The music was felt physically, and it opened up a perplexing subliminal space, both pleasurable and unfamiliar. This was the musical analogue of placing two mirrors face to face, listening to the sound of listening.

More details can be obtained from the ICAD website, including a program and audio files of the pieces.

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ICAD