EC Event: Motion Exhibition

A picture of me in front of the exhibit
On May 29th, 2018 I was invited by one of my friends to go to the Motion Exhibit for the class DMA 24. It was essentially the compilation of the work of 21 students over the whole quarter. All of them were videos with music and stretched along 3 screens, all of the screens containing different content. The students used motion graphics and immersive projection mapping to create their projects. I was able to film some of the pieces that were shown there. Unfortunately, I could not find out the name of the artists who created these videos. At first, I did not think I would use this exhibit as an event for this class. However, as I watched the projects, I realized that I could connect it to the topic of neuroscience.

(Unfortunately, Blogger would not accept my video so here are the screenshots of the videos)

First Video

Second Video

Third Video
Different projects provoked different emotions in me. In the first video, I felt uncomfortable, uneasy and disturbed. In the second video, I felt anticipatory and confused yet strangely at ease. And finally, for the last video, I felt excited, optimistic and ready for action. I remembered that Professor Vensa talked about the firing of neurons upon sensory stimuli so I decided to do some research of my own regarding how these neurons worked to make us feel the way we do to certain stimuli (Vensa).

Whenever we see an object or hear a sound, a certain stimulus is perceived by our body parts. For our eyes, we detect light waves and for our ears, we detect sound waves. Then our body parts transform this information into electrochemical signals (Teachnology). These signals travel through your nervous system which is connected by billions of neurons and synapses (connections) that help bring the signal to your brain (Johns Hopkins Medicine). This signal travels to the gray matter mentioned in Professor Vensa's lecture. At the gray matter, the signal is sent to the Cerebral Cortex where it is divided between the frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes depending on what body part the signal came from. All this happens in less than a second (Brain Made Simple).

The Cerebral Cortex (Physiology Plus)


The Cerebral Cortex is where the information is dissected and analyzed and a reaction is generated. In the first video, the chaotic imagery and heavy deep music lead to a feeling of discomfort and dread. In the second video, the music is calm yet rushed and the imagery is scattered yet organized at the same time which led to the emotions I mentioned earlier. Finally, for the last video, the music is peaceful and fast and the imagery is blurred and of nature which causes the excitement and optimism.

It is amazing how the brain processes basic light and sound waves and forms them into reactions and feelings. It makes absolute sense in an evolutionary perspective but the intensive process is an art itself. Our bodies truly are a work of art.

 Sources:

 Vesna, Victoria. “Neuroscience Pt 1.” Desma 9.

How Does the Brain Process Information? Teachnology., http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/methods/info_processing/

 “Cortex and Lobes of the Brain - The Brain Made Simple.” Hippocampus - The Brain Made Simple, brainmadesimple.com/cortex-and-lobes-of-the-brain.html

 “How the Brain Processes Different Types of Sensory Information.” Biomedical Odyssey, 14 Mar. 2016, biomedicalodyssey.blogs.hopkinsmedicine.org/2016/03/how-the-brain-processes-different-types-of-sensory-information/.

 “Cerebral Cortex.” Physiology Plus, 21 July 2017, physiologyplus.com/cerebral-cortex/.

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