Towards A Transformative Set-Up: The Art and Virtual Environments Program at the Banff Center for The Arts

© 1999 ISAST LEONARDO, Vol. 32, No. 4 pp. 257–259, 1999 257 LEONARDO ELECTRONIC MONOGRAPHS EXTENDED MUSICAL INTERFACE WITH THE HUMAN NERVOUS SYSTEM: ASSESSMENT AND PROSPECTUS David Rosenboom, School of Music, Center for Experiments in Art, Information and Technology, California Institute of the Arts, 24700 McBean Parkway, Valencia, CA 91355, U.S.A. E-mail: . Web site: . The original version of the monograph “Extended Musical Interface with the Human Nervous System: Assessment and Prospectus” was written in 1989 and published in 1990. The author’s purpose in creating this volume was to document work that had taken place since the publication in the mid-1970s of his earlier book Biofeedback and the Arts, Results of Early Experiments [1] and the original publication of the print edition of the monograph. The revised edition of the monograph has been updated for publication on the World Wide Web. The ideas contained in this monograph are intended to stimulate new ideas and inspirations. The purpose of this monograph is manifold: (1) to describe in detail work done in the mid- to late-1970s in which the author used a computer system to spontaneously generate formal musical architectures based on a detailed analysis of evoked responses to features in those architectures recorded from a performer’s brain; (2) to provide an overview of some historical events related to the development of artistic works that are in some way responsive to bioelectrically derived signals; (3) to describe briefly the emergence of the biofeedback paradigm and to discuss biofeedback modeling; (4) to survey accumulated knowledge regarding interpretation of electroencephalographic phenomena with particular emphasis on event-related potentials (ERPs) and their relation to aspects of selective attention and cognitive information processing ; (5) to present a speculative model for the general interpretation of electroencephalographic waveforms; (6) to discuss some inferences and speculations relating these phenomena to musical experience; (7) to provide an assessment of some methods and techniques that have been applied to realizing works of art with these phenomena; (8) to describe some specific algorithms for generating self-organizing musical structures in a feedback system that relates a limited model of perception to the occurrence of event-related potentials in a performer’s brain; and (9) to discuss the potential of new and emerging technologies and conceptual paradigms for the future evolution of this work. Finally, an actual score containing a conceptual scheme for a biofeedback work involving electroencephalographic phenomena and electronic orchestrations is provided in an appendix to stimulate further thinking and ideas for applications in the arts. The writing is addressed to those with an interdisciplinary interest in the arts (particularly music) and the sciences (particularly those of the brain, psychology and perception, and the study of self-organizing systems). However , readers with backgrounds in the arts or sciences alone—or even other areas such as cognition, philosophy, computer science or musical instrument design—will also find material related to their interests. Many references are provided with which the reader may enhance her or his knowledge in a particular sub-discipline. Hopefully, the ideas presented herein may contribute in some way toward increasing our breadth of understanding concerning dynamic processes in the arts and sciences. Acknowledgment Thanks are due to Karen Beardsley for assisting with web publication of the monograph. Reference 1. David Rosenboom, ed., Biofeedback and the Arts: Results of Early Experiments (Vancouver: A.R.C. Publications , 1975; Hanover, NH: Frog Peak Music, 1987). TOWARDS A TRANSFORMATIVE SET-UP: THE ART AND VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS PROGRAM AT THE BANFF CENTER FOR THE ARTS Michael Century, Center for Research on Canadian Cultural Industries and Institutions, McGill University, 3465 Peel Street, Montréal, Québec H3A 1W7, Canada. E-mail: . Thierry Bardini, Department of Communication , Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128 succursale Center ville, Montréal, Québec H3C 3J7. Canada. E-mail: . Since the 1960s, three social models for access by artists to new technologies and expertise may be distinguished: selffinanced research and development and/or partnership between freelance individuals; artist-run media centers and collectives; and the institutional laboratory . While each model has supported both the production of new works and the research and development of new systems, the more costly and complex the technology...