We’ve spent far too much time covering how bio-sensors will monitor blood sugar, prevent falls, warn of heart attacks, and more. Why not focus on using bio-sensors against humanity?
That seems to be the premise behind Tobias Grewenig’s new installation, Emotion’s Defibrillator. Well, ok, fine, the artist says it’s about the media’s affect on our physiology:
The user of the installation, wearing an oxygen mask and a pincer on his left forefinger that will measure his/her pulse, puts his head into a big sphere. By placing the hands on two metalic spheres, the equipment is set in motion. First, bio data such as respiration, pulse and skin resistance are measured by the sensors and sent to the software to define the starting parameters. There are various sources of audio and a screen within the sphere. In relation to the data picked up from the body, the audio resonates, tiny electric shocks are delivered via the metallic spheres while the screen shows a flickering image of the user which is being interrupted by “subliminals”. When the user takes the hands off the spheres, the installation stops.
Grewenig says that it’s fascinating to observe how the electronic equipment, although basically off-the-shelf material, starts frightening its user and turns into something profoundly unpredictable. This already happens when the sensoric input is roughly at the level of everyday city-life. (Well, plus electric shocks, that is.)
The media could never be this painful (except maybe those cable news shows). We find this kind of art is just base and cruel. And yes, we’d love to try it out.
Via We-Make-Money-Not-Art
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