“The Emotion Lights 2 + 3” by Adinda van‘t Klooster
Title:
- The Emotion Lights 2 + 3
Artist(s) and People Involved:
Symposium:
- ISEA2009: 15th International Symposium on Electronic Art
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More artworks from ISEA2009:
Venue(s):
Medium:
- Cast porcelain, Electronics, LED’s, code, Arduino micro controller, gold lustre,
Size:
- 360 x 210 x 140 mm
Artist Statement:
The Emotion Light is a sculptural light in the shape of a large uterus that uses biofeedback technology to visualise the holder’s emotional state in changing light patterns emerging from the shape. To achieve this, physiological data like GSR (galvanic skin response), heart rate and movement are tracked and translated via code into changes in light patterns.
The Emotion Lights are portable and don’t show any invasive technologies. The visitor is asked to sit down and listen to an emotive sound sequence whilst he/she can directly see his/her bodily response visualised in the varying hues of the light
This work externalises the internal body, symbolically in terms of the female reproductive organs, which are normally hidden from view, and physiologically by visualising the holder’s heart rate and sweatiness (which is obtained from GSR). The shape is simultaneously ambiguously reminiscent of a ram’s head and of spermatoids as well as fallopian tubes. Stylised into a quirky portable object, this artwork provides an introspective experience that is embodied but can also be observed by others in the space. A faster heartbeat reflects in a faster pulsing light and a higher level or arousal translates into warmer colours with the maximum set at red, and lower arousal translates into blue and green hues.
This artwork avoids the explicitly medical or therapeutic uses of biofeedback technology to explore the less literal complex relationships between sound, colour and bodily response.
