Intro – Lauren Urenda :)

Hey everyone! I’m Lauren, and I’m majoring in Biology with a minor in Computer Science. I’m in my senior year, but may have to take an extra semester. I’m interested in the ways computer science can be fused with art, and express organic art forms despite using more rigid technology, which is something comp fab seems to do a lot, so I took this class to learn more 🙂 I’m also interesting in ways to combine music and computational design, as well as studies or portrayals of consciousness. I didn’t find as much in the realm of music (though I did find some pretty interesting looking 3d printed instruments by MONAD studios), but I came across a project called Self-Reflected that I found intriguing:

A video of the piece

Self-Reflected is a large scale (96″ by 130″, 22x size of the brain) representation of the brain and human consciousness. It was created using “reflective microetching”, in which the circuits of 500,000 neurons are etched into sheets of 22K gold leaf. The way that they are etched allows different etched parts to reflect lights from different angles. This allowed the engineers to set up specially placed and programmed lights that allow different parts of the piece to be lit up in different colors depending on what light is pointing at the correct angle. This not only allows incredible diversity in what color combinations can be used, but each part can also change colors individually, allowing the piece to be animated with light and color to depict the workings of our brain and consciousness. The 2D representation appear much more in depth and 3D in some ways, making this piece an unprecedented comprehensive depiction of the brain as it is very difficult to depict the 3D structure and functions of the brain. This project was a culmination of many techniques and processes. One of the neuroscientists converted data about what regions are used in the brain during various types of thoughts into computer script , essentially representing a neural network, or mathematical causal network.

There is a fairly detailed explanation of the process (referred to as choreography, which I think is beautiful) on the website under “The Engineering” and “How it was Made” (see site link below). They used “algorithmic and mathematical simulations to chaotically link up the center points of neurons with the end points of axons to infuse causality into the connectivity.” They separated neural pathways as 25 different files and used color to denote flow of time in their process, which is pretty cool to look at. The 25 different pathways became 25 different etchings, each imposed upon each other but with ability to reflect light from different angles, to different areas in the room. They then made a pretty complex light set up, that effectively animates the piece depending on the movement of the light and the movement of the observer. Computing was involved in the setup and maths of the lighting.

I really like the sort of recursiveness of this concept – the piece is intended as a sort of self portrait, the brain perceiving itself and its functions, as those same functions are happening in the brain in order to observe this piece. I’ve recently been looking into a theory of consciousness involving recursiveness, so I find this really interesting! The piece itself references the concept that everyone has their own subjective experience and perceives things uniquely, as everyone experiences the piece in a different way since it looks different depending on your location in the room.

The main artist behind the piece, Greg Dunn, obtained his doctorate in neuroscience and then decided to pursue art, which makes him a really unique individual merging those fields. His art is highly informed by extensive knowledge. Here is a link to the site, with many sections about the making and intention of this piece:

Self Reflected