04/28 @ 8:00pm - Littoral: MUSIC OF THE HEMISPHERES (w/ The Lickets)

MUSIC OF THE HEMISPHERES

The idea for –MUSIC OF THE HEMISPHERES—originates in the work of neuro-philosopher Dan Lloyd, Thomas C. Brownell Professor of Philosophy and a faculty member of the Neuroscience program at Trinity College, Connecticut. Dr. Lloyd’s research focuses on taking patterns found in brain activity and converting them into musical score. These scores are not biofeedback or music cognition experiments, but rather extracting the ‘architecture of consciousness,’ as it occurs in the brain, and assigning its varying components musical tones. The result is musical scores meant to reflect brain activity itself. Through this, Lloyd found that recognizable musical structures emerge, and he thus formulated a theory that consciousness operates within a musical structure – or rather, that music is an expressive interpretation of how our brains work.

The “music” generated through Lloyd’s project seems oddly familiar, and is surprisingly harmonious and musical. Now, should this theory be proven, the philosophical implications are both joyous and endless. The idea that we are, in fact, music – or that music is, in fact, truly human: a reflection or interpretation of the human mind.

The event will serve as both an exhibition and an experiment. Elisa Da Prato, a Brooklyn-based filmmaker who had initiated the event and is currently working on a film concerning this theme, will be pairing Dan Lloyd with different ensembles/musicians who will be assigned with the task of interpreting the scores that are the result of his studies. The event will be divided into three parts: a screening of a short film about Lloyd’s experiments that would spell out the context for the experiment; the staging of these scores as interpreted by the musicians; and a discussion concerning both the aesthetics and the musical validity of the aforementioned scores. The panel is shaping to include Lloyd, a neuroscientist, a music theorist, and the musicians assigned to the task.

Da Prato states that her goal is to create a discussion about the emotional and biological necessity of music itself. She wishes to assimilate Lloyd’s theory to the scientific/philosophical equivalent of Woody Allen’s joke concluding his film Annie Hall: “we need the eggs.” The idea being that, for some reason, we need to both express and experience people in musical form. Almost a scientific case for joy.

The evening will feature:

DAN LLOYD is the Thomas C. Brownell Professor of Philosophy and a faculty member of the Neuroscience program at Trinity College, Connecticut.  For several years, he has been pursuing the connections between music and mind, a project at the intersection of art and science.  Using art to explore complexity is at the heart of several past and ongoing projects as well. He is the author of Radiant Cool: a novel theory of consciousness.  (Cambridge:MIT Press, 2004), a book joining noir fiction with a theory of consciousness, and  Simple Minds (MIT Press, 1989).  His current projects include Ghosts in the Machine (Rowan and Littlefield, forthcoming), a philosophical drama about minds, brains, and computers, and Subjective Time (MIT Press, forthcoming), an anthology on the philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience of experienced temporality.  He is the editor of the journal Frontiers in Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology.

ZORAN JOSIPOVIC, PhD, is a Research Associate and an Adjunct Professor in the Psychology Department and Center for Neural Science, New York University. His research focuses on the effects of meditation and other contemplative techniques on the brain, and on what these effects can tell us about the nature of consciousness. Zoran is a long-term practitioner of meditation in the nondual traditions of Dzogchen, Mahamudra and Advaita Vedanta.  He has also worked as a psychotherapist and a bodyworker and has taught meditation at Esalen Institute for many years.

DOUGLAS BRUCE JOHNSON is a composer and music therapist, currently based in Hartford, CT. Performances of his compositions have been heard on three continents, and recorded on Zimbel (USA) and on BITMusik (Germany). Dedicated to live musicking, Johnson’s music celebrates the emotional connectedness that, together, performers and listeners can explore in music. His work in music therapy brings this interactive, celebratory approach to music into a variety of supportive and restorative healing contexts. From 1988 to 2009, Johnson was a member of the music faculty at Trinity College, Hartford

“THE LICKETS deploy a mini-orchestra of acoustic instruments—cello, flute, acoustic guitar, organ, sitar, harmonium, hand percussion, et al.—to call into being undulating vistas of luminous mantras and soundscapes. The Lickets’ raga-like settings suggest a strong Indian influence, and traces of visionary ‘60s jazz artists like John and Alice Coltrane, the time-transcending drones of La Monte Young and his Theatre of Eternal Music, and ‘60s psychedelic rock surface too as parts of the trio’s trippy mix.” – Textura

ELISA DA PRATO is a writer, director and editor currently living in Brooklyn, New York. She worked for documentary filmmaker Murray Lerner on several films featuring artists such as The Who, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. As of late, Da Prato is developing a film aiming to narratively explore the intersection of philosophy, neuro-science, and music theory.  Elisa is a regular video contributor to indexmagazine.com and theblackharbor.com. She studied motion picture production at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA.

Littoral series is made possible, in part, by the Casement Fund together with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.