“imagineering” by Richard Kriesche

Title:

imagineering

Artist(s) and People Involved:

Exhibiting Artist(s):



• Richard Kriesche

Symposium:

• ISEA2002: 11th International Symposium on Electronic Art
• More artworks from ISEA2002:  

Venue(s):

• Warehouses 4 & 20 on the Garden Pier in the port of Nagoya , Nagoya , Japan

Artist Statement:

1. art has ever been comprehended as a process of expression. the internal status of the brain-body interrelation of the given artist had to be processed into form, content and gestalt to communicate with the outside world.

in the metaphor of externalisation of the mind, the bio-electrical activity of the brain itself (EEG) is being used to control a cursor on a computer screen. this channel of communication from the inside of the body to the outside world must be loaded with information. this information stems from pure imagination only.

with the brain-computer-interface (BCI) an interface to the physical world is provided. the body itself has become the computer screen. the cursor has become the tool to reincarnate the “dead parts” of handicapped bodies by mental activity only.

“imagineering” is grounded in complete analogy to the expressionistic concept of the artist but based in an information assisted environment. in this environment the real new artist is a truly handicapped, but information assisted figure. in trying to communicate with the world he/she must imagine the action only, the realisation is being executed by the information assistants. this is in correspondence with the arts from the inspiration to the final realisation in an artwork, but executed by the artist, or at least signed by him/herself. this artistic structure of processes mustn’t be further understood as an extra-ordinay mental procedure. as “imagineering” can demonstrate, this brain-body activity is ordinary to all the human internal and external processes, even though the realisation looks extraordinary.

In order to demonstrate the realisation of the art metaphor of “imagineering” the audience has been invited to a 30 minutes training with the brain computer interface (BCI) in the exhibition. according to the power of imagination -and training procedures- the users had been able to steer an electric train either in the one or the other direction, at will.

2. “imagineering”, comprehended as the common ground of advanced artistic and basic ordinary expressions, has been pushed forward to an experiment incorporating five ‘truely handicapped artists’ (blind, left hermisphere paralized, right hemisphere paralized, two wheelchairdrivers.) the mental processes of each of the five artist have been communicated via internet to finally create a ‘complete virtual body’ by means of communication.

Other Information:

project partners:
prof. gert pfurtscheller, dr.christa neuper, di. dr. christoph guger. (technical university, graz) prof. Werner schmeiser, franz ammer, oskar kalamidas, hans krameritsch, otto lechner. (all private) dieter tschermernig, di. franz holler (joanneum research, graz)