Qualia Formation through Sensory Substitution in Artistic Laboratories in Russia
Symposium:
Session Title:
- Sentience Difference: Human Body Sensory Modalities
Presentation Title:
- Qualia Formation through Sensory Substitution in Artistic Laboratories in Russia
Presenter(s):
Abstract:
The paper is concerned with the complexities of interrelations between human sensory modalities and the role of artistic experimentation in triggering new forms of perceptual organization. The research field of sensory substitution, starting from the neuroscientific investigations by Bach-Y-Rita in the 1970s, has provided many insights into how certain brain functions can compensate for the others, thus demonstrating the brain capabilities for plasticity. Although trackable through brain-scanning and neuroimaging technologies, the emerging effects, such as vision-like qualia, remain subjective and can be communicated primarily only through analogies. One productive way to explore the dialectics between the subjective and possible objective knowledge is a comparative analysis of neurocomputational models and experiences designed in artistic projects. How can a model – be it computational or experiential – guide us into what happens at the level of the neuronal structures? In what follows, we consider some methods of testing the ‘sentience’ of the brain and making the inner changes ‘feelable’ explored through artistic means in a series of interdisciplinary laboratories and exhibitions in Moscow in 2013-2019.
