Looking Outwards 05: 3D Computer Graphics

Melting memories by Refik Anadol

This project combines data paintings, light projections, and augmented data sculptures to visibly demonstrate how the brain recalls memories.To generate the data, the artist conducted experiments at the Neuroscape Laboratory at the University of California, San Francisco.

“Anadol gathers data on the neural mechanisms of cognitive control from an EEG (electroencephalogram) that measures changes in brain wave activity and provides evidence of how the brain functions over time. These data sets constitute the building blocks for the unique algorithms that the artist needs for the multi-dimensional visual structures on display.”

I really enjoy this art because the artist explores the intersection of physical and digital reality, neuroscience, and art. In the work, the digital data he collects is reflected in different 3D shapes like swirls move across the work’s surface, resembling cresting ocean waves, blossoming flowers, and shifting sand.