Event #2: Octopus Brain Storming

Today, I attended the 12pm session for the octopus brain storming. This event really opened my eyes to how art can be incorporated with science and technology. The exhibition room had a large table in the middle with a project proposal posted on the walls that gave background information that explained the function of the octopus helmet. The main purpose of the experiment was to see how brainwaves react to music and color. Two individuals were given the opportunity to wear the helmet and what was really cool was the use of color on the octopus head. When the two individuals had the same identical electrical brain activity, the colors of the octopus head would be identical to each other. This was known as the "consensual experience". I first thought that this meant that the two individuals were sharing the same thoughts or feeling. However, after reading the project proposals and watching the short clip filmed by Professor Cohen, I realized that the identical color meant "brainwave congruency that happens on the subconscious level". I loved when the two students yelled out "we're in sync!" every time they displayed the same color.
From this event, I was able to further understand the concept of two cultures. I visually saw how science can be explained in an artistic manner. For me, I always learned about brainwaves through textbook full of scientific terms. It was usually very abstract and dry, since the concept of brainwaves cannot be directly seen through the human eyes. However, through this exhibition I was able to tackle this concept of brainwaves and EEG through an octopus head that shoots out beams of color when two individuals had identical brain activity.


Furthermore, I loved how this event was interactive where we were able to experience and try out the project instead of just reading and watching a video that explains the project. In the end, we were asked to provide a feedback on how they can improve the exhibition in a sense that the audience can be more involved during the experiment and this is a question that is still on my mind. I enjoyed this event as you can tell and would definitely encourage others to check it out if they have the opportunity to do so. This would not only be beneficial in that it teaches once again how art can be effective in teaching topics that are confusing in the science field, but it also encourages the audience to widen their creativity.