October 7, 2022 – October 16, 2022
Augmented Body, Altered Mind is a collaborative, interactive exhibition weaving a brain-computer interface with an audiovisual environment. Created by environmental artist AlanJames Burns, the show celebrates different cognitive abilities used for creative problem-solving. Augmented Body, Altered Mind explores the potential to collectively reshape the world towards a more diverse and sustainable future.
Delving into the climate challenge and tech-growth narratives, Augmented Body, Altered Mind examines correlations between the natural world, neurology, philosophy, and neurodivergence (which references variations in the human brain and cognition). Immersed in a projected environment and multi-channel soundscape, visitors are invited to co-create the artwork in real time by wearing a brain-sensing headset that detects electric signals generated by different brain waves. By doing so, audiences control evocative visuals reminiscent of environmental, neurological, and biological imagery and patterns.
Climate change disproportionately affects people with disabilities, including from the lack of accessible information and vulnerabilities in extreme weather events. Underpinned by the theory of complementary cognition and the psychological aspects of climate challenge, the exhibition encourages new approaches to thinking about the accelerating environmental crisis and how it could be tackled. Highlighting the importance of accessibility, Augmented Body, Altered Mind welcomes all audiences to engage, collaborate, and shape the artwork.
Climate emergency and well-being are recurrent themes in Burns’ interdisciplinary projects. Augmented Body, Altered Mind follows the artist’s previous artworks, including VR experiences and a series of psychoacoustic sound installations inside caves, in which caverns personified the consciousness of Mother Earth, who struggled with declining mental health brought on by the human impact on her body.
Augmented Body, Altered Mind was initially conceived during Burns’ residency at Science Gallery Dublin in 2020 and presented at Carlow Arts Festival in Ireland 2022. Coinciding with Frieze Week 2022, London’s busiest art week, Augmented Body, Altered Mind is a fully developed exhibition curated by Marek Wolynski and hosted by The Earth Vision charity.
The artwork has been co-developed with Dylan Coburn Grey and Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan (writing), Michael Riordan (composition), and collective Ibragim (digital visuals). The project is generously supported by Arts Council England, Culture Ireland and Arts and Disability Ireland.