6 COGITO in Space
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consciousness’, challenges the notion of interstellar message as conceived by scientists, notoriously Frank Drake and Carl Sagan amongst others, who composed and
transmitted into space the Arecibo message in 1974. This and the following interstellar messages, focused on representing humankind’s scientific and technological
knowledge, emphasizing the mathematical and logical notion of intelligence.
COGITO in Space focuses instead on the continuous thought process that occupies
most of our individual narrative, on the existential struggle and controversial nature
of a sentient being, on her or his deepest thoughts and doubts, asking a potential
extraterrestrial listener “are you as controversial as we are, do you share our inner
struggle? Can we empathize on what we don’t know and cannot understand about
our existence and the meaning of life?”
The two different approaches to communicating with extraterrestrial intelligence
are also highlighted in the novel Solaris. While hovering on a spaceship over the
surface of the sentient planet Solaris, the scientist of the mission prompts Dr. Kelvin,
the mission psychologist, to transmit his brain activity towards the planet, while
focusing on the scientific purpose of the operation. However, while the electrodes are
attached to his head and the transmission of his brain activity takes place, Dr. Kelvin
lets his mind wander through memories of his recent and old past, contaminated and
overlapped with dreams.
6.4 Code for Interstellar Transmission
The artistic requirement of recording the brain activity of the entire brain and
conveying the complexity of human thought proved to be very challenging from
the scientific and technological point of view. As an artist I value scientific accuracy,
in fact I consider the scientific language as the ‘material’ of the project, making
it an essential requirement that people experiencing COGITO in Space would not
be deceived regarding the accuracy of their experience, within the limits of current
understanding of brain activity analysis. For the project we use a lab grade electroencephalogram (EEG) device (see Fig. 6.4). The EEG research has been developed
in collaboration with neuroscientists Robert Oostenveld, Stephen Whitmarsh and
Guillaume Dumas.
The EEG reading is able to detect the complex pattern created by the unique
interaction of the brain waves in time, showing that the mind is engaged in negotiating different stimuli, produced both by the sensory and psychological experience.
The EEG reading however is not invasive and cannot detect the object of thoughts,
therefore it presents no privacy concerns.
For COGITO in Space the neuroscientists developed a unique code for interstellar
transmission, the first of its kind, both accurate from the artistic and scientific perspective. The code manages to reliably convert the ‘river of consciousness’ measured by
32 electrodes, into a mono sound that can be converted into a radio signal that can
be transmitted into space using a powerful antenna.
41
consciousness’, challenges the notion of interstellar message as conceived by scientists, notoriously Frank Drake and Carl Sagan amongst others, who composed and
transmitted into space the Arecibo message in 1974. This and the following interstellar messages, focused on representing humankind’s scientific and technological
knowledge, emphasizing the mathematical and logical notion of intelligence.
COGITO in Space focuses instead on the continuous thought process that occupies
most of our individual narrative, on the existential struggle and controversial nature
of a sentient being, on her or his deepest thoughts and doubts, asking a potential
extraterrestrial listener “are you as controversial as we are, do you share our inner
struggle? Can we empathize on what we don’t know and cannot understand about
our existence and the meaning of life?”
The two different approaches to communicating with extraterrestrial intelligence
are also highlighted in the novel Solaris. While hovering on a spaceship over the
surface of the sentient planet Solaris, the scientist of the mission prompts Dr. Kelvin,
the mission psychologist, to transmit his brain activity towards the planet, while
focusing on the scientific purpose of the operation. However, while the electrodes are
attached to his head and the transmission of his brain activity takes place, Dr. Kelvin
lets his mind wander through memories of his recent and old past, contaminated and
overlapped with dreams.
6.4 Code for Interstellar Transmission
The artistic requirement of recording the brain activity of the entire brain and
conveying the complexity of human thought proved to be very challenging from
the scientific and technological point of view. As an artist I value scientific accuracy,
in fact I consider the scientific language as the ‘material’ of the project, making
it an essential requirement that people experiencing COGITO in Space would not
be deceived regarding the accuracy of their experience, within the limits of current
understanding of brain activity analysis. For the project we use a lab grade electroencephalogram (EEG) device (see Fig. 6.4). The EEG research has been developed
in collaboration with neuroscientists Robert Oostenveld, Stephen Whitmarsh and
Guillaume Dumas.
The EEG reading is able to detect the complex pattern created by the unique
interaction of the brain waves in time, showing that the mind is engaged in negotiating different stimuli, produced both by the sensory and psychological experience.
The EEG reading however is not invasive and cannot detect the object of thoughts,
therefore it presents no privacy concerns.
For COGITO in Space the neuroscientists developed a unique code for interstellar
transmission, the first of its kind, both accurate from the artistic and scientific perspective. The code manages to reliably convert the ‘river of consciousness’ measured by
32 electrodes, into a mono sound that can be converted into a radio signal that can
be transmitted into space using a powerful antenna.