Telephone Rewired is an audiovisual installation that probes and modulates human consciousness by rhythmically entraining neuronal oscillations in the brain to impact cognition. The installation stimulates the viewer’s endogenous brain waveforms into beta (focused attention), theta (deep relaxation), and alpha (calm awareness). After viewers don an electroencephalography (EEG) monitor, their brain rhythms synchronize into a neurofeedback loop and they enter the era of augmented cognition. This installation has been presented at 20013’s New York Electronic Art Festival, and can be viewed for a limited time at Harvestworks’ Pocket Gallery.
[Dec 4 – Jan 8] Telephone Rewired
Sean Montgomery, Tali Hinkis & Kyle Lapidus (LoVid)
Dec 4 through Jan 8, weekdays 12 to 2pm and by appointment.
Location:
Harvestworks Pocket Gallery
596 Broadway, #602 | New York, NY 10012 | Phone: 212-431-1130
Subway: F/M/D/B Broadway/Lafayette, R Prince, 6 Bleeker
Telephone Rewired is a series of works combining an immersive art installation with an active scientific experiment that invites the viewer to think about the future of human cognition. Upon entering the installation, the viewer is engulfed by pulsing light and sound that mimic endogenous brain waveforms and transport the viewer to an altered state of mind in which patterns and images seem to appear in the visual field. As the viewer’s EEG patterns synchronize with the patterns of the work, the intense experience of flashing light and pulsing sound transitions into an increasing feeling of clarity and connection. The course of the journey depends on the exact cycle of brain states delivered by the oscillating light and sound, with some sequences creating a sense of calm and clearing of the mind, while others might deliver a sense of focus and heightened cognitive function.
Using data collected from thousands of viewers that have already engaged with the installation, each iteration of the work is fed by the experiences of previous viewers. As in a game of telephone, previous viewers’ EEG patterns may be used to create the light and sound patterns for the following viewers, perhaps revealing naturally convergent brain states. The work has broad implications from treating depression and anxiety, to increasing the capacity of human learning, to synchronizing multiple people for greater collaboration and empathy, and generally asks what possibilities exist for a future in which you can toggle the switches of cognition. Combining an immersive experience of altered perceptual and cognitive processes with a scientific experiment to further our understanding of the human mind, Telephone Rewired gives viewers an opportunity to consider the potential for neurofeedback and the future of augmented and collaborative cognition.
Sean Montgomery
Sean Montgomery is a new media artist, professor and engineer in New York City. Sean is generally interested in the intersection between art, science, technology, and entrepreneurship and how this dynamic cross-section pushes together ideas from diverse sources to create emergent phenomena of new possibilities. While finishing his Ph.D. in neuroscience, Sean began to consider the fact that from the perspective of a neuron inside the human brain, both a cold winter day and the embrace of a loved one feels like a sequence of electrical impulses. Thinking about the development of new technologies as a lens to let viewers trace back to their own biological existence and reflect on their most basic connection to the world around them, Sean looks forward to exploring how technology can enhance our understanding of ourselves and create new ways for people to interact with one another and the objects around them.
More information about his art and engineering work can be found at:
http://ProduceConsumeRobot.com/
http://Labs.SensorStar.com/
LoVid
Tali Hinkis and Kyle Lapidus have been working together as LoVid since 2001. Hinkis graduated from The Ecole Des Beaux-Art, Paris in 2000 and Lapidus received his MD and PhD from Yeshiva University in 2009. LoVid’s collaboration began with audiovisual performances and has expanded to include a wide range of media, from works on paper to App-art. In our performances we use our 
handmade electronic instruments to create immersive audiovisual compositions. These performances were presented among many others at Museum of the Moving Image (NY), Graham Foundation (Chicago), Eyebeam (NY), MoMA (NY), FACT (UK), PS1 (NY) and The Kitchen (NY). LoVid’s single channel videos have been screened in galleries, festivals, and events worldwide including Modern Art Oxford (UK), Art in General (NY), Siskel Theater (Chicago), International Film Festival Rotterdam (Netherlands), Observatori Festival, (Spain), and NY Underground Film Festival (NY).
LoVid’s installations and objects combine machine- and hand-made objects and devices, using a DIY approach to technology with tactile fine art process to produce weaving, works on paper, and sculptures. These projects have been included in solo and group exhibitions worldwide including Science Museum Jerusalem (Israel), CAM Raleigh (NC), Netherlands Media Art Institute (Netherlands), Real Art Ways (CT), The Jewish Museum (NY), The Neuberger Museum (NY), Science Gallery (Ireland), and New Museum (NY). In addition LoVid creates large scale interdisciplinary projects that combine new technology with social interventions and public spaces. These have been funded and produced in collaboration with Rhizome, Franklin Furnace, Elastic City, free103point9, The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Experimental TV Center, and LMCC. LoVid has received additional awards from NYSCA, NYFA, and Foundation for Contemporary Art, and Greenwall Foundation. LoVid has received residencies from STEIM (Netherlands), Harvestworks, Eyebeam, Smack Mellon, and Cue Art Foundation and has been visiting artist at Pratt (NY), Royal College of Art (London), Oberlin (OH), School of the Art Institute (Chicago), RISD (RI) among many others.
http://www.lovid.org/
http://produceconsumerobot.com/telephonerewired/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/116418375056022/