The Mutual Wave Machine Part 1 (visual only)

Описание: By Suzanne Dikker | Matthias Oostrik
With Peter Burr (visuals) | Matthew Patterson Curry (audio) | Diederik Schoorl (design)
A project of the Marina Abramovic Institute Science Chamber, Presented by Marina Abramovic (www.marinaabramovicinstitute.org)

DESCRIPTION
What does it mean to lose oneself in someone else? How is it possible that the mere physical presence of another human can make us believe we can conquer the world, or, conversely, make us feel lonely and incapable?

The MUTUAL WAVE MACHINE is an interactive neurofeedback installation that embodies the elusive notion of 'being on the same wavelength' with another person through brainwave synchronization. Enclosed by an intimate capsule and immersed in an audiovisual environment that responds and reflects their shared brain activity, two visitors can directly experience and manipulate their internal efforts to approach each other, or distance themselves from each other.

During the experience, greater brainwave synchronization is reflected in greater vividness and more coherent and recognizable audiovisual patterns, while lack of synchronization strays towards dark audio-visual chaos: a faint ringing in the ears and static in the retinas. Real-time video footage of your partner's faces emerges from the chaos under perfect synchrony: is this when you really 'see' your partner?

The external audience can hear and observe the internal dance unfold through the semi-translucent shell of the Machine. Only a distant shadow remains of the participants' physical presence, their autonomy replaced by a new, shared identity.

The Mutual Wave Machine is presented by the Science Chamber of the Marina Abramovic Institute. It is Oostrik and Dikker's third collaborative project in a series of interactive neuroscience installations that explore the transfer of energy between performer, public, and participant. The first two projects were Measuring the Magic of Mutual Gaze (with Marina Abramovic, http://kiblix.org/kiblix2012/softcont...) and the Compatibility Racer (with Lauren Silbert, Jennifer Silbert, Oliver Hess, and Amanda Parkes, http://vimeo.com/71165002 | compatibilityracer.blogspot.com).

These interactive installations have been exhibited and presented at various venues and festivals, including the American Museum of Natural History (New York), the Garage Center for Contemporary Culture (Moscow, 2011), SOFT CONTROL: Art, Science, and the Technologically Unconscious (Maribor, Slovenia, 2012); World Science Festival (New York, 2013); Luminato Festival (Toronto, 2013); TodaysArt (The Hague, 2013); and EYE Amsterdam (MuseumNacht Amsterdam, 2013).