Tangible Feelings

EEG (and Biofeedback) for the Arts: Exhibition and Concert

Christophe De Boeck: Staalhemel
Interactive installation

Staalhemel ('steel sky') is an interactive installation with 80 steel segments suspended over the visitor's head as he walks through the space. Tiny hammers tap rhythmical patterns on the steel plates, activated by the brainwaves of the visitor who wears a portable EEG scanner.

This responsive environment confronts the viewer with an acoustic representation of the electrical brain activities that governs his being at that very moment. All our mental and physiological processes are controlled by myriads of transitory circuits in an invisible, obscure place in the crown of our head. That intimate topography is mirrored in this sky of steel as hammers hit the plates in shifting rhythms and combinations, transforming parts of your consciousness into macroscopic dimensions. This environment offers a walk through a sheltered space that is also the space of one's own mind.

At iMAL, Christophe will present a reduced version of his "steel sky", made of 24 steel plates providing a glimpse of this impressive installation.

Presentation: Fri 16/09 (18:00-20:00), Sat 17/09 + Sun 18/09 (12:00-18:00)

More about Staalhemel and Christophe De Boeck...

Kiel Long: The static organ

The Static Organ project investigates advanced scientific methods in order to confront viewers and participants with aesthetic experiences that question embodied human perception, exploration and interaction within the environment that surrounds them. It is composed of Mind Pool and Mind Drops.

Mind Pool (2011)
Interactive installation

The interactive installation piece entitled Mind Pool is a physical feedback of the activity of brainwaves presented to the participant in real time.

This representation of activity is presented to the user through a liquid that responds in a varying motion of interacting wave patterns. This generates a unique symbiotic sculpture constantly flowing and changing as thought itself.

This interaction provides an experience that is an externalisation of the workings of the brain allowing the user to engage as both a performer and observer, exploring the relationship between their mind and body in a dynamic physical and sonic environment.

Mind Drops (2010)
Video installation

The video installation, entitled Mind Drops, consists of three dynamic audiovisual projections that surround the viewers and invites them to an immersive experience. These motion images and generative sounds attempt to represent the activity of a person through a new perspective by audio-visualising their mental activity.

The videos are generated from data gathered from brain activity of the artist through EEG sensors whilst enacting Sleeping, Feeding and Meditating. Whereas these actions activate a broad variety of mental qualities, Mind Drops attempts to display them with a minimalistic aesthetic in order to produce accessibility with a great importance to subtle transformations over time. The visitors are invited to observe and live these ‘rituals’ through inwardness.

Presentation: Fri 16/09 (18:00-20:00), Sat 17/09 + Sun 18/09 (12:00-18:00)

More about The static organ and Kiel Long...

Valery Vermeulen: Montage Cinema Revived by the EMO-Synth
  Audio-visual concert

Montage Cinema Revived by the EMO-Synth is a new interactive multimedia project in which the emotional impact of automatically generated sound and image is maximised through using artificial intelligence techniques.

At the very heart of the technology used in the project lies the EMO-Synth, a soft and hardware system in which the emotional man-machine interaction plays a central role. During operation, the EMO-Synth automatically generates and manipulates sounds and images to lead the user into certain predefined emotional states. The development of the EMO-Synth relies on different techniques stemming from a broad range of artistic and scientific domains including artificial intelligence, affective computing, psychophysiology, advanced mathematical modelling, algorithmic music composition and image generation.

For the Montage Cinema Revived by the EMO-Synth performance at iMAL, Valery Vermeulen invites selected participants* to have their emotional feedback matched with automatically generated music using articial intelligence models constructed by the EMO-Synth. During the performances, the resulting models are used to produce realtime personalised soundtracks. They involve digitised sounds and live musicians that, together with live visuals, are controlled in front of the audience by the person who went through the calibration before. The live audio-visual concert resulting from this experience intends to be unique and entirely based on the personal emotional feedback of the participant.

This project is made in collaboration with various artists from different backgrounds including Remco Roes (image & video), Pieterjan Seynaeve (live percussion) and Nico Couck (live guitar).

Presentation: Fri 16/09 (20:00-22:00) + Sat 17/09 (20:00-22:00)
*4 persons will selected after draw (more info soon...)

More about EMO-Synth and Valery Vermeulen...

Media Gallery <>