Date: Friday November, 16, 2018
Event Time: 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
Presentation Time: 9:45 – 10:15 a.m.
Presentation: Emotive Pathways: internal and external connections in sculptural form
Location: Davis Auditorium, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Sponsored by: Mount Sinai, Scientific American, S.P.A.R.K., Association of Medical Illustrators
Visit the SciViz NYC’s website for more information.
Talk Summary:
The forms and concepts in my work bridge art and science by exploring scientific advances that increase our understanding of psychological and neurological landscapes, including the nature of memory, brain physiology, neurobiology, and the mechanics of sensory experiences.
This talk will focus on the inspiration and realization of the Our Memories project, currently on view in Thomas Paine Park in downtown Manhattan as part of the NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program. The presentation will also include the public’s response as captured in film documentaries and social media.
Our Memories is informed by the nature of neurons and dendrites and investigates how our brains react to experiences and how memory functions. The work manifests as an audience participatory outdoor installation of translucent sculptures that contain cavities for participants to place color-coded memory stones. The sculptures take on the colors of the collective memories and come to life as they store more memories.
The memory stones are classified into six emotions based on Plutchik’s color wheel: love, anger, fear, surprise, joy and sadness. Participants transform the sculptures by recalling a powerful memory and then depositing the memory stone in a sculpture. This action is intended to visually incite viewers to consider the concept of the interior self, particularly how our experiences and memories are encoded and stored. This active act of recollection not only stirs up personal memories, it also physiologically generates a new, shared memory. Our Memories is both a collective memorial installation, made complete by thousands of individual memories, and an experience that connects us to our core and to one another.