Forwarded from cyberspace and society ....


Subject:  tate modern 19.03
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 16:31:06 +0000
From: Barbara Rauch <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]




EXPERIENCE OF SPACE

19th March 2001, 2:30pm
curator: Barbara Rauch
chair: Prof. Malcolm LeGrice
speakers: Dr. Antti Revonsuo, Elena Cologni, Jude James, Barbara Rauch
Starr Auditorium
Tate Modern London
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VIRTUAL REALITY AS A METAPHOR OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Dr. Antti Revonsuo
Academy of Finland and University of Turku

The scientific study of consciousness is at a stage where no unifying
theory of consciousness exists yet. The history of science shows that at

such an early stage of scientific explanation, a fruitful metaphor can
guide
research in the absence of a theory. I propose that the concept of
"Virtual Reality" is an appropriate metaphor of consciousness.
Consciousness consists of direct presence in, or full immersion into,
the center of a
three-dimensional, spatially extended world; the experience of being
a-self-in-the-world. As evidence from dream research and neuropsychology

shows, this virtual reality of consciousness — the experience of space,
body- image, and surrounding objects  — must be an internal construction

of the brain. Somehow, the experience of being present in the
world-out-there is created deep inside the brain: The virtual reality
inside the brain involves an out-of-the-brain experience. The
implications of the
virtual reality metaphor for the study of consciousness will be
discussed.

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MORNING TOILETTE
Elena Cologni

The core issue around which I built my artistic discourse and my PhD
project, is the perception or interaction between myself, my work (the
artist) and the audience.
The context/place/space in which this relationship takes place
influences our mutual perception, the results of which are incorporated
in the artistic event. As a consequence the experience of the event
depends upon the connotation of the space as well as each individual’s
experience of it.

The cognitive process which enables us to gain knowledge of the world
through senses, is influenced by the above mentioned ever changing
conditions.

The video performance Morning Toilette presented in the context of
‘Experience of Space’ is composed by a chiasmus structure (already
referred to in the video performance bluX). Chiasmus might be called
‘reverse parallelism’, since the second part of a grammatical
construction is balanced or paralleled by the first part, only in
reverse order (this happens also in a mirrored image). The 4 terms, in 2

couples, refer to each other.

In the performance the presence of spectators looking at the projections

is one of the terms of the relation. A gap of significance is filled
with perception.

The fist video clip shown is one of the five shot in summer 2000, by
reversing the video camera screen used as a mirror. Spectators look at
the image of myself looking at them.
Simultaneously the projection on the side shows the action happening
next door.

Key words: absence, presence, representation, here.


Elena Cologni PhD candidate The London Institute Central Saint Martins
College
PhD Research Title ‘The identity of the real in relation to the
experience of space’
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http://www.research.linst.ac.uk/csm-students/ELENA/ELENA%20COLOGNI.htm

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JUDE JAMES: Wimbledon School of Art

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

‘My work is centred in performance: using the body, in space, defined by

light. Live performance is the primary site of my work. Film and
installation are variants for developing the themes that I work with in
performance. I utilise very specific energies of body and place.

My work is located in the ‘sacred’: the sacred geometry of the body and
the scared geometry of space. The body is the location of the sacred.
Light is used to illuminate and serves as the vehicle of revelation. The

numinous aspect of space comes into play through the ‘form’ and ‘nature’

by which space is defined. The body ‘reads’ the knowledge embodied in
abstract geometric form.

Form is knowledge. Knowledge is transmitted as resonance. Abstract form
constitutes pure knowledge. My work explores these statements in the
context of a body in movement,
within abstract sculpted light forms. The methodology of the body is to
re-member; to re-awaken the in-tuition resident within the body.

In-tuition seeks out the resonance of the abstract light form. The
consequent vibration through movement and being constitutes
communication in its most direct form. Communication is experienced as
communion. Communion constitutes transformation.

The dance was performed by Richard Harding, Anglo-German performance
artist. Through contempletative process and improvisation through
movement, a state of consciousness becomes manifest in which the dance
finds the seeker.

Jo Thomas is a composer based in Islington, North London. Her music and
installations receive presentation worldwide through life performance,
internet and radio. Currently, she is persuing a Ph.D in Music
Composition at City University London.
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************************************************************

Barbara Rauch

artist, using digital media, performance and video sculpture for her
installations;
since the end of 1999 enrolled for a part-time Ph.D. in The London
Institute.

Title of the research is
"Fine Art and Virtual Environments: a practice-based exploration of
paradigms of experience and imagination".
The aim of this investigation is to demonstrate how new technology can
affect the relationship between the real and the imagined. It is also to

investigate similarities between being on-line and being in a
dream-state. The dissertation will explore issues of consciousness in
relation to new technology within the context of her own fine art
practice.

Tate Modern
'foot & metre'
Experiencing Space in Virtual Environments and Dreams

In my presentation I will investigate how new technology can affect the
relationship between the real and the imagined. Within the context of
the early 21st century, the question of the real and the imagined will
be re-addressed.  Similarities between being online and being in a
dream-state are my key concerns; I will focus on perceived similarities
between constructed realities within the context of the Internet
(particularly online situations MUDs (Multi-User Domains) and MOOs  and
dream-states. MUDs are locations in the Internet, where users can create

their own new identities, appearances and behaviour through largely
text-based communication. Through analysis of current research into the
functioning of the dreaming mind and the experience of virtual reality
in online situations, this presentation will explore the relationship
between these two fields.

The possibility of a commonality between Virtual Reality and dreams will

be questioned; whether there is an equivalence between the recently
built virtual spaces such as MOOs and MUDs and being in a dream state.

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