Eunoia
Lisa Park
“Eunoia” is a performance that uses my brainwaves--collected via EEG sensor--to manipulate the motions of water.
http://www.thelisapark.com/#/eunoia
The title “Eunoia” derives from the Greek word εὔνοια, meaning "beautiful thinking”. EEG measures frequencies of brain activity (Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, Theta) relating to my state of consciousness while I wear it. The data collected from EEG is translated in realtime to modulate vibrations of sound. The resulting sound waves vibrate pools of water in metal plates placed on top of speakers.
Background
I’ve read Western and Buddhist philosophical books such as Nietzsche’s “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” and “Non-possession” written by a notable Buddhist monk 법정스님 ( 法頂─). Nietzsche used a word “Übermensch” to refer to the notion of enlightenment and spiritual awakening, which is the highest spiritual state that can possibly be achieved. The book “Non-possession” described the notion of ownership that no one or anything possesses anything. Besides reading books, I did research to find some projects that used EEG sensor. I found several projects such as “Steel Sky”, and “One Minute Dreamstate (1.4AM)". "Steelsky" is an installation which generates vibrations of sound from the metal slates (suspended on a ceiling) when an audience enters a space with wearing EEG sensor. Another project “One Minute Dreamstate (1.4AM)" is a light installation that uses the data of an artist’s brain activity during sleep from EEG sensor.
Audience
Since it’s an introspective project, it not only required practice to control my feelings, but also had to analyze my state of mind. During user testing sessions, It wasn’t too challenging for me to control my agitated feelings (Attention: term used from EEG sensor) to meditation. But on the day I performed, the result was not the same as my user testing experience.
Implementation
In terms of design angle, aesthetic has always been essential part of my works. Since “Eunoia” is a performance that requires meditation, I wanted to keep it simple and to maintain zen-like qualities. With that in mind, I fabricated 5 of 24” metal dishes. The reason why I decided to fabricate metal dishes into round shape is because circle symbolizes unity and infinity. Also, there’s no clear distinction between beginning or end. The significance of having 5 of metal dishes is to represent the idea of basic human emotions: 喜[기쁠 희] happiness, 怒[성낼 노] anger, 哀[슬플 애] sadness, 惡[미워할 오] hatred, and 欲[바랄 욕] desire. Most importantly, I carefully thought of using water because it’s neutral and the purest form of all kinds. Also, our body consist of 70% of water.
Technological process: (Processing, Max/MSP, Reaktor, and EEG sensor) EEG measures frequencies of brain activity (Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, Theta) relating to my state of consciousness while I wear it. The data collected from EEG is translated in realtime to modulate vibrations of sound. The resulting sound waves vibrate pools of water in metal plates placed on top of speakers.
Fabrication process: (24” Metal plates, 15” Speakers) I chose 15” speakers because of their power. The more powerful the speaker is, the more vibrations can be created. Then, I began testing my project (creating varieties of water forms in realtime by controlling the volume panning, frequency of sound from the measured EEG data) with 10” metal dish, 15”, and increasing the size up to 24”. I chose metal because it the most effective material to transfer vibrations of sound to water.
Conclusion
Overall, I learned how challenging and difficult it is to control oneself. During the performance, I had to calibrate my Max/MSP code several times due to a change of my emotions and mood. I realized that I would need more discipline and commitment in order to succeed my goal, which was to achieve stillness of my feelings. Supposedly, once I reach the moment of silence (emotional state), there would be no sound created from speakers. For the next step, I would like to keep developing this idea with a bigger scale installation.
Background
I’ve read Western and Buddhist philosophical books such as Nietzsche’s “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” and “Non-possession” written by a notable Buddhist monk 법정스님 ( 法頂─). Nietzsche used a word “Übermensch” to refer to the notion of enlightenment and spiritual awakening, which is the highest spiritual state that can possibly be achieved. The book “Non-possession” described the notion of ownership that no one or anything possesses anything. Besides reading books, I did research to find some projects that used EEG sensor. I found several projects such as “Steel Sky”, and “One Minute Dreamstate (1.4AM)". "Steelsky" is an installation which generates vibrations of sound from the metal slates (suspended on a ceiling) when an audience enters a space with wearing EEG sensor. Another project “One Minute Dreamstate (1.4AM)" is a light installation that uses the data of an artist’s brain activity during sleep from EEG sensor.
Audience
Since it’s an introspective project, it not only required practice to control my feelings, but also had to analyze my state of mind. During user testing sessions, It wasn’t too challenging for me to control my agitated feelings (Attention: term used from EEG sensor) to meditation. But on the day I performed, the result was not the same as my user testing experience.
Implementation
In terms of design angle, aesthetic has always been essential part of my works. Since “Eunoia” is a performance that requires meditation, I wanted to keep it simple and to maintain zen-like qualities. With that in mind, I fabricated 5 of 24” metal dishes. The reason why I decided to fabricate metal dishes into round shape is because circle symbolizes unity and infinity. Also, there’s no clear distinction between beginning or end. The significance of having 5 of metal dishes is to represent the idea of basic human emotions: 喜[기쁠 희] happiness, 怒[성낼 노] anger, 哀[슬플 애] sadness, 惡[미워할 오] hatred, and 欲[바랄 욕] desire. Most importantly, I carefully thought of using water because it’s neutral and the purest form of all kinds. Also, our body consist of 70% of water.
Technological process: (Processing, Max/MSP, Reaktor, and EEG sensor) EEG measures frequencies of brain activity (Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, Theta) relating to my state of consciousness while I wear it. The data collected from EEG is translated in realtime to modulate vibrations of sound. The resulting sound waves vibrate pools of water in metal plates placed on top of speakers.
Fabrication process: (24” Metal plates, 15” Speakers) I chose 15” speakers because of their power. The more powerful the speaker is, the more vibrations can be created. Then, I began testing my project (creating varieties of water forms in realtime by controlling the volume panning, frequency of sound from the measured EEG data) with 10” metal dish, 15”, and increasing the size up to 24”. I chose metal because it the most effective material to transfer vibrations of sound to water.
Conclusion
Overall, I learned how challenging and difficult it is to control oneself. During the performance, I had to calibrate my Max/MSP code several times due to a change of my emotions and mood. I realized that I would need more discipline and commitment in order to succeed my goal, which was to achieve stillness of my feelings. Supposedly, once I reach the moment of silence (emotional state), there would be no sound created from speakers. For the next step, I would like to keep developing this idea with a bigger scale installation.