UWM Arts+Technology Night

Synaptic Symphonic is an audio/visual work that gives a voice to the unconscious mind. The work utilizes brainwaves captured through Electroencephalography (EEG) in Dr. Christine Larson’s EEG laboratory at UWM. The waves are broken down into the five different brain wave patterns: Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. These are displayed through modules that show each of the waves along with the combined waveform. They are also used as control data to create an audio work. As each wave affects the sound in its own unique way, one can find which wave is controlling what aspect of sound through the visual component.

The EEG recording session was set up to stimulate different modes of thought and, as such, has movements from periods of resting and idling to critical and creative thinking. The work explores our mind’s unconscious abilities, revealing processes that we rarely contemplate. The work allows us to appreciate and wonder at the organ that gives us our sense of self.

This work is a culmination of all my studies during my tenure at UWM and a project that I have been considering for some time. It is also the first collaboration I have done that was outside the Peck School of the Arts. The project is meant to bridge art and science in a symbiotic fashion; it must address the scientific process but not be bound by it.  I believe art and technology are becoming ever more entwined and as technology becomes ever more a part of our lives, art should both reflect and challenge these changes.