Edson Pavoni & Lyora Pissarro
Landscapes
Landscapes
of the mind
performatic installation / 2022
Landscapes of the Mind is an installation made with brain monitors that are able to read the neural activity of two participants as they look at each other. The data collected is then used to create a generative drawing that is projected over an oil painting by Lyora Pissarro.
Presented live in Brooklyn, NY in the Summer of 2022, Landscapes of the Mind was envisioned together with artist Lyora Pissarro as an experience of deep connection between people and art.
Participants experience Landscapes of the Mind in New York, 2022.
Courtesy of the artists.
Courtesy of the artists.
“In a world where the average span of attention given to
a painting in a museum is under five seconds, technology
was used not as a distracting force, but as a
fundamental tool to amplify our mindfulness and our
consciousness on the connections we can foster, not only
with art but with the people experiencing it with us”
- Edson Pavoni
- Edson Pavoni
The systems in place for this work was based on the
functionality of our neural system. "Our neurons don't
really touch each other. Rather, they connect through
electricity", said Pavoni. The two devices used in the
installation analyzed precisely that: they were capable
of measuring the electrical potential created by the
brain.
The customized software, developed for this artwork, could capture the brain's activity and recognize signs of calmness and of meditation states. During the performance, the brain waves of two participants were recorded for one minute. This activity generated particles with gravitational forces that attracted each other. The particles of user 1 were attracted by the particles of user 2. The trail of those particles created the generative drawing over Pissarro's painting, which stood between participants.
The customized software, developed for this artwork, could capture the brain's activity and recognize signs of calmness and of meditation states. During the performance, the brain waves of two participants were recorded for one minute. This activity generated particles with gravitational forces that attracted each other. The particles of user 1 were attracted by the particles of user 2. The trail of those particles created the generative drawing over Pissarro's painting, which stood between participants.
Participants experience Landscapes of the Mind in New York, 2022.
Courtesy of the artists.
Courtesy of the artists.
In order to understand what is being shown, one can decode how the line in blue represents how aligned the brain waves of the participants were during the capturing moment. A straight line represents great alignment.
This quick concept prototype was made in six days by the artists and presented for a group of friends as an initial experiment of a bigger vision, one of a full exhibition about the connections of the human consciousness and the experience of art.
This quick concept prototype was made in six days by the artists and presented for a group of friends as an initial experiment of a bigger vision, one of a full exhibition about the connections of the human consciousness and the experience of art.
Participants experience Landscapes of the Mind in New York, 2022.
Courtesy of the artists.
Courtesy of the artists.
Credits
Edson Pavoni & Lyora Pissarro, artists.
Software
Johnatan Querubina & Edson Pavoni
Special thanks to our host Jony Levin, and for the special support from Chris Mewes, Alex Fraenkel, Luana Lima Fox, & Jo.Ke.
Edson Pavoni & Lyora Pissarro, artists.
Software
Johnatan Querubina & Edson Pavoni
Special thanks to our host Jony Levin, and for the special support from Chris Mewes, Alex Fraenkel, Luana Lima Fox, & Jo.Ke.