Event Three

For my third event, I attended the Octopus Brain Storming on May 5^th at 11 am. I attended this event thinking it would be an interactive workshop. It was in a way but to my disappointment, it was not fully working the way it was intended to. I honestly will have a hard time writing about this because there was not a lot that went on and it was a short demonstration.

Proof of Attending the Event (I am the one on the right in white with my hand up)

The original project was intended to allow two people to hook up to electrodes and try to match similar brain wave lengths. These wave lengths were to be shown through colored lights that match the brain wave length. The two people’s jobs were to try and match up with the same brain wave length to produce the same color. There was also music to fit the mood while the two people were attempting to match brain wave lengths.

Pre-Recorded Brain Waves

Charts on the Project and How it Works

In my event, it was not working properly so we could only see the machines working through a pre-recorded brain wave length. I did not have the chance to try on the Octopus Hat but my friends did and they described it as uncomfortable. I am glad I did not try on the hat because I could experience the lights being matched up and not matched up, my friends who tried on the hat were not able to experience this light show. I think seeing the wave lengths match up versus trying on the hat gave me a better understanding and experience since the Octopus Hats were not actually working. If the Octopus Hats had been working, then I think I would have wanted to try on the hat. At the very end of the event, Professor Vesna asked us to give feedback on how we think the project could include more people. I was not sure, but I said that she could incorporate more Octopus Hats but this would make the matching of brain waves even more difficult.

 

My Friends Trying on the Hats

This event connected to last week’s lesson of neuroscience and art. Artists who utilize neuroscience in their art use the brain signals and the science around it to create artwork. In this event, the electrodes got signals directly from the brain which a computer transcribed and allowed the light in the Octopus Hat to light up according the calculation that matched with the color. This was not like any of the projects we learned about in the lessons directly but did connect because it was an artist utilizing neuroscience and art to make an art piece not normal to most people. This project was created by Professor Vesna and a few colleagues, which it was fascinating to see some of Professor Vesna’s work since I have not seen any of it yet. I wish I could have attended the brainstorming she was at so I would have had the chance to meet her before the class is over. Overall, this connected back to Week 7’s lesson on neuroscience and art because brain is directly linked with neuroscience (it is the basis of neuroscience because of all the nerve activity that is always going on in the brain) and the creators of this event used brainwaves to make a light show according to the brain waves. 

Works Cited

Anker, Suzanne. "Neuroculture." Neuroscience. By Giovanni Frazzetto. Vol. 10. N.p.: Nature Reviews, 2009. 815-21. Print

Attending the Octopus Brain Storming Event, Art Sci CSNI Gallery. Personal photograph by author. 2017. Taken by Bubba Nickles and pictures Maddie Skibitzki and Rachel Garcia

Octopus Brainstorming Event Info Charts, Art Sci CNSI Gallery. Personal photograph by Maddie Skibitzki. 2017.

Octopus Brainstorming Event While Trying on the Hats, Art Sci CNSI Gallery. Personal photograph by Maddie Skibitzki. 2017.

Vesna, Victoria. "Neuroscience-pt1.mov." YouTube. UCOnline, 17 May 2012. Web. 24 May 2017. <https://youtu.be/TzXjNbKDkYI>.

Vesna, Victoria. "Neuroscience-pt2.mov." YouTube. UCOnline, 17 May 2012. Web. 24 May 2017. <https://youtu.be/TFv4owX3MZo>.

Vesna, Victoria, and Others. 2017. Live Demonstration. Octopus Brain Storming, Art Sci CNSI Gallery.