What part of your brain are you using? While many people are refraining from using their brain at all you might have heard this before. If your right side of the brain is dominating then it is said that you are creative, artistic, passionate and so on. If you are a lefty then logic, precision, scientific curiosity are typical for your character.  It turned out this is not the case. Unless you have suffered a major brain damage and parts of your brain are no longer functioning you are guaranteed to use both sides of your brain simultaneously for variety of activities.

Meet such one person who in an exceptional way is combining both art and science in his work. Ryoji Ikeda is an electronic composer and visual artist who has released minimal music, books and impressive large-scale installations.

"Superposition" is Ikeda's latest project. I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you. This installation is "about the way we understand the reality of nature on an atomic scale and is inspired by the mathematical notions of quantum mechanics". In other words, or at least the way I understand it, this is a scientific poetry where texts, sounds, photos, binary and barcode patterns are mixed with extreme precision. The spectator is also a participator who can explore his/her human perception of...life on a macro/micro level or any other lever there is.

 

Similarly to electronic music and classic music where there are djs and orchestra conductors, in "Superposition" there will be people performing as operators/conductors/examiners during the live session of the installation.

Another impressive large-scale installation is "The Radar" which is projected onto the sands between Copacabana and Ipanema. Lucky were those who had the chance to experience something so extraordinary. The sheer scale of the visual and audio composition must have had a very stimulating effect on the minds of the attending crowd.

 

Ryoji Ikeda travels frequently around the world with his installations so make sure you check out his website for future performances near you.

 
posted by Alex
February 2014