Beyond Human Perception

Beyond Human Perception

This multimedia work allows the audience to visualise and compare the reactions of humans and plants to a common stimulus: live music. It erases the boundaries of communication and understanding between both living beings and highlights the immediate reactions of plants to the changes in their surroundings. The installation is the result of several sessions where the brain activity of humans was measured by the EEG registered wave jointly with electrical oscillations in plants, using a sensor developed by the artists that detects immediate changes in plants.

Through the use of mathematics and the Fast Fourier Transform, human and plant data are comparable. Thanks to an algorithm developed by the artists, data is displayed graphically, which allows the audience to see little spheres that move within the geometric shape of torus. Each sphere represents the registered data. The graphic representation is seen simultaneously in a video that allows the audience to find patterns by comparing both living beings’ reactions to live music.

The video installation is composed of two synchronised videos facing each other: One video with the concert for plants and humans, and the other with data visualisation of the two living beings’ responses during the performance.

This work was realised within the framework of the European Media Art Platforms (EMAP) programme at KONTEJNER (HR) with support of the Creative Europe Culture Programme of the European Union.

uh513

María Castellanos and Alberto Valverde (uh513) began working together as a duo in 2009. María is an artist and researcher with a PhD in Fine Arts from the University of Vigo. Alberto is an artist and technologist. They have centred their joint research on hybridisations between cyborgs and wearables as a paradigm for the extension of human sensory capabilities and the creation of complex systems that promote communication and understanding between humans and plants.

bg-03