Memory
KINDRA CRICK: Cerebral Wilderness - a short film by Ian Lucero
Illuminated Wilderness: Memory is a multimedia exhibition exploring the intersection between the ‘two cultures’ of science and art that share a common wonder at the creative possibilities which emerge from the cross-pollination of the material and imagined worlds. Audiences find themselves enveloped in, and are invited to navigate through the Cerebral Wilderness, an imagined wilderness of the brain within a space filled with LED-illuminated ‘neurons.’ Dendritic arms made of fabric-wrapped wire reach out to create an immersive experience of neuroplasticity. Corseted around each neuron is netted fabric that shimmers in its embrace of the memories held within each synaptic connection. This work was initiated during a NW Noggin collaboration with neuroscientist Dr. John Harkness from Dr. Barbara Sorg's lab at WSU.
|
“Has it ever struck you... that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going? It’s really all memory... except for each passing moment.” |
Cerebral Wilderness: Memory
Magnet wire, LEDs, netted fabric, split cables, and video with neuron images from Dr. Harkness’s research in Dr. Sorg’s lab at WSU. Music by Katie Griesar. This science-inspired work was shown at The Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., accompanying a lecture at the Portland Art Museum and most recently as an immersive installation at Gallery 114 and the Littman Gallery at PSU (Portland, OR).
Science-inspired Art
One of the greatest mysteries of the mind is our memory, the ability to time-travel and use recollections, whether conscious or not, to shape our future choices. At our core, when we think about who we are, we rely on a narrative we remember. What are the molecular machines that lock in our long-term memories, these neural echoes of our experience? How flexible are they and how might they change?
Magnet wire, LEDs, netted fabric, split cables, and video with neuron images from Dr. Harkness’s research in Dr. Sorg’s lab at WSU. Music by Katie Griesar. This science-inspired work was shown at The Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., accompanying a lecture at the Portland Art Museum and most recently as an immersive installation at Gallery 114 and the Littman Gallery at PSU (Portland, OR).
Science-inspired Art
One of the greatest mysteries of the mind is our memory, the ability to time-travel and use recollections, whether conscious or not, to shape our future choices. At our core, when we think about who we are, we rely on a narrative we remember. What are the molecular machines that lock in our long-term memories, these neural echoes of our experience? How flexible are they and how might they change?
During the fall of 2015, I was paired with Dr. Harkness as part of a collaboration through the non-profit NW Noggin. Dr. Harkness is a postdoc fellow in Dr. Sorg’s lab at WSU, investigating the role of perineuronal nets, which surround neurons, in memory and cocaine-relapse behavior.
Although these perineuronal net structures were documented over a century ago by Italian scientist Camillo Golgi, their role in the workings of our memories is only now beginning to be understood. Golgi described these structures that resided outside the neuron as a "kind of corset of neurokeratin which impeded the spread of current from cell to cell."
To echo Golgi in this installation, each neuron is corseted in netted fabric that shimmers in its delicate embrace of scraps of memory held within each synaptic connection. Dendritic arms made of fabric-wrapped wire reach out and create an amplified experience of neuroplasticity and illuminate the extra-neuronal machinery of these perineuronal nets.
In magnifying and re-imagining the hidden molecular structures of the mind through art, I want to evoke the wonder of discovery and offer an imagined vision of the spectacular biological machinery which comprises the very core of our memories and our essential sense of self.
Although these perineuronal net structures were documented over a century ago by Italian scientist Camillo Golgi, their role in the workings of our memories is only now beginning to be understood. Golgi described these structures that resided outside the neuron as a "kind of corset of neurokeratin which impeded the spread of current from cell to cell."
To echo Golgi in this installation, each neuron is corseted in netted fabric that shimmers in its delicate embrace of scraps of memory held within each synaptic connection. Dendritic arms made of fabric-wrapped wire reach out and create an amplified experience of neuroplasticity and illuminate the extra-neuronal machinery of these perineuronal nets.
In magnifying and re-imagining the hidden molecular structures of the mind through art, I want to evoke the wonder of discovery and offer an imagined vision of the spectacular biological machinery which comprises the very core of our memories and our essential sense of self.
This work was featured on Oregon Art Beat the November 2016 issue Interalia Magazine of October 2016 issue of 'SciArt Magazine'