Event #2: Nina Sorbell

As a neuroscience major, I was absolutely intrigued by Nina Sobell’s presentation on her work and art projects. She is a pioneer in using video and computers in art, creating an interactive aspect of art. I have found a digital achieve of some, but not all of her works: https://www.digitalartarchive.at/database/artists/general/artist/sobell.html.

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One of her works was titled “Brain Wave Drawings.” This project Transcribed electric signal to physical images using electroencephalography (EEG). This involves two participants wearing EEG headsets. She measured their brain wave signals. One person emits signal on the x-axis, and the other one emits signal on the y-axis. Thus, if both participants emit signals at the same time, a circular shape would be drawn on the screen. She used color organ and communicated using color and sound. The EEG image also shows distortion when one person is distracted. This was so fascinating to me in its intimacy as well as technological use in forming artworks. I also presented my midterm paper also on brain waves, so this presentation matched my interest completely.

HNRS 177 Event 2 - Brain Wave Drawing.png

 

I thought it was even more astonished by the fact that this project was conducted in 1973. The EEG was created in 1929 by Hans Berger, a German psychiatrist. She was among the first few people who experimented EEG as a form of art! In 2018, a research study was done to connect three separate people’s brains using EEG and allowed shared thought between them. Communication is a form of art, and Nina Sobell’s work perfectly demonstrated that. The idea of thought-sharing and her project is so beautiful. It truly connects science, technology, and art together. 

 

I also spent some time exploring her website featuring “Web Séance: Brainwave Drawing” at http://www.ninasobell.com/ninasobell/webseance/. Many of her projects focused on non-verbal communications through technology and art. A lot of these featured project incorporate EEG as well. One of the projects asked me to reflect and meditate on an image for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes, I may jot down my thoughts for 2 minutes. At the same time, I can also watch participants’ EEG data as they also perform this meditation. Although I had some trouble navigating through the website, I thought this was an amazing idea. After doing this activity, I can imagine that I would have felt closer to this participant who was completely a stranger to me. I truly do think technology can connect people. 

 

Another cool project that Nina and her team conducted was “Thinking of You,” in which they analyzed four different kinds of brain waves: beta waves (red), alpha waves (blue), theta waves, and delta waves (grey). Each of the waves represent different states of mind. Beta waves represent heightened brain activity, where the brain is awake and is dealing with concrete problems in real life. Alpha waves are present when the participant is alert but not focuses, frequently associated with feelings of calmness and relaxation. Theta waves often carry intense memories, particularly childhood ones. These are often confusing, and researchers have difficulty studying them. Lastly, delta waves occur during deep slumber, when people are unconscious.

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Citations:

 

Belkofer, Christopher, and Lukasz Konopka. “The Effective Implementation of Professional Learning Communities - Ed.” Conducting Art Therapy Research Using Quantitative EEG Measures, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1194725.pdf. 

 

HISTORY: BRAIN WAVE DRAWINGS 1972 - PRESENT http://ninasobell.com/ninasobell/index_menu.html

 

Jiang, Linxing, et al. “BrainNet: A Multi-Person Brain-to-Brain Interface for Direct Collaboration between Brains.” Scientific Reports, vol. 9, no. 1, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-41895-7

 

NINA SOBELL - ADA | Archive of Digital Arthttps://www.digitalartarchive.at/database/artists/general/artist/sobell.html

 

Web Séance: Archivehttp://www.ninasobell.com/ninasobell/webseance/

 

Panachakel, Jerrin, and Angarai Ramakrishnan. “No Longer Science Fiction: Mind Reading through EEG Could Soon Become Reality.” Frontiers, 14 May 2021, https://blog.frontiersin.org/2021/04/29/frontiers-mind-reading-eeg-electroencephalography-panachakel-ganesan-indian-institute-of-science/

 

Sobell, Nina. “Thinking of You” http://ninasobell.com/ninasobell/parkbench_docs/portfolio/thinkingofyou/gui.htm.