NOÖSPHERE – Erin Sexton (Lydgalleriet, 2017)

FESCH.TV INFORMIERT:

Erin Sexton
NOÖSPHERE
Lydgalleriet, Bergen
10.11.17—03.12.17

CQ CQ

From the Greek, noö is mind.

In October 2017 an experiment was conducted. At the Bergen Kringkaster on Askøy Island, two participant’s brainwaves were sonified using psychotronic EEG technology. These signals were transmitted via amateur radio, bouncing off the different layers of the ionosphere, brushing up against cosmic particles, and exiting the atmosphere into space. An outdoor radio station in the Svartediket valley was set up to coordinate and record the process. Radio noise contains the entire history of our universe. In the vacuum of space, radio waves travel infinitely at the speed of light, and are emitted along with visible light from stars throughout their life cycle. Buried under our own Earthly signals, in the static, are the radio emissions of distant, ancient stars. When our transmissions slip through the ionosphere, they radiate outwards at the speed of light, inscribing our own history into space-time. Objects and the materials that comprise them recede away from our perception, existing on time-scales much larger than our own. Borax is the salt crystal of the element Boron, created by the impact of cosmic rays with our upper atmosphere. Memory foam was invented by NASA for space travel. Copper is warm, soft, and very conductive, supernovaed to us from across the galaxy.

We make predictions, but the results are infinitely variable, continuously expanding.

NOÖSPHERE, a new installation by Erin Sexton, blurs the boundaries between bodies, minds, matter, and energy. Copper, crystal, foam, and other materials meet the sonification of brainwaves and their transmission via amateur radio. These signals are heard bouncing off the ionosphere, brushing up against cosmic particles, and exiting the atmosphere into space. NOÖSPHERE is a collaboration with Bergen Kringkaster, neuroscientists, conspiracy theorists and artists.

ERIN SEXTON (b. 1982) is a Canadian artist based in the forest near Oslo, Norway. Her sculptures and installations involve found objects, tarpaulin, tape, traditional rope work (knots, splices, netting), textiles, and crystallization processes. A sci-fi survivalist narrative runs through her work, exploring alternate paradigms, strange topologies, soft apocalyptics, and speculative cosmologies. She is a licensed amateur radio operator (LB9OH/VE2SXN), using ionospheric transmission for collective ritual and expanded forms of communication. Cross-disciplinary collaboration is central to her practice, which often results in conferences, workshops, and publications.

Lydgalleriet is an exhibition platform for sound art and sound related art practices, situated in Bergen, Norway. We explore today’s plethora of experimental sound-based art practices and auditive cultures through gallery shows, multichannel concerts, discursive work and performativity.

www.lydgalleriet.no