Secrets of the brain revealed through art

A hands-on public showcase, Meeting of Minds, will reveal how art can offer insights into the mysteries of the mind at Sydney’s Walsh Bay on Saturday, 27 June.

Interactive art technology will be available for the public to explore, including a headset that converts brainwaves to sound and fMRI-based 3D tours of a brain.  

The audience can also explore the nature of memory by walking through a 360-degree ‘life cam’ of moments recorded by a woman suffering amnesia.

Featuring two expert panels, Meeting of Minds will explore meditation, mental health, the impact of social media on the mind and the interface between neuroscience and creativity. The event brings together neuroscientists, artists and theorists to debate how we imagine and influence our brains.

UNSW Art & Design is a collaborator on the project with the Kaldor Public Art Project as part of Marina Abramovic’s residency at Sydney’s Pier 2/3.

Event co-convenor UNSW Art & Design’s Lizzie Muller, who has a long history of working at the interface of art and science, says the event aims to push the boundaries between matter and muse.

“The idea is not to sit and preach, but to step back and actually experience the brain, as something that both constructs us and can be constructed,” says Muller, who curated the event in collaboration with artist and interaction designer UNSW’s George Khut.

A bright future ... George Khut from UNSW Art & Design measuring brainwaves

Speakers include:

• George Khut, a lecturer at UNSW Art & Design – will discuss how he measures brainwaves associated with deep relaxation and translates them into a soundscapes. Khut is one of only 12 artists hand-selected by Abramovic to take part in her residency.

• Animator and deputy director of UNSW’s National Institute for Experimental Arts John McGhee – will discuss how he uses 3D visualisation to educate and rehabilitate cardiovascular patients at St Vincent’s Hospital, by literally ‘walking patients through’ their condition using virtual reality oculus rift head-sets.

• UNSW Psychology cognitive neuroscientist Joel Pearson will discuss how we measure processes that are fundamental to creativity – discovery, failure, imagination and decision-making.

What: Meeting of Minds: Art, science, technology and the brain

When: Saturday, 27 June, 1-4pm

Where: Level 1, Pier 2/3 Walsh Bay

Admission is free, see http://kaldorartprojects.org.au/event/meeting-of-minds-intersection-of-art-design-and-neuroscience for further details