We were happy and proud to perform at the opening of the visual art exhibit If Seeing is Believing, at Fullersta Gård (Huddinge, Sweden), curated by our long-time collaborator Susanne Ewerlöf. For us, this was a chance to exchange with the (visual) arts, and explore how sound and visual art can inform each other and create a more immersive and conceptual context in which to experience our inner and outer worlds in new ways.
Susanne Ewerlöf wrote this wonderful text on the exhibit (Google translated from Swedish):
Contrary to what you might believe, seeing is not only passive perception, but in fact a process of active construction, where past experiences, cultural identity and personality play a major role. If Seeing is Believing is a group exhibition focusing on the physiology of the eye, the brain’s perception and how it is influenced by psychological and cultural factors. The artists take up the seemingly unconscious process of creating images in our interior. They also reflect on the more comprehensive process of creating images and working with optics, technology and media to understand and influence reality.
Together, the exhibition comments on our contemporary situation where images have a prominent role. At the same time, they comment on the art and visual history that contributed to today’s visual reality and how our viewer works today. The artists take the subject from different perspectives; among other things through the media source, scientific statements about seeing and things that test and fool the eye. Mykola Ridnyis (UA) Blind Spot comments on human inability to create an overall picture of complex historical and political scenarios while Toril Johannessen’s (NO) Ulearning Optical Illusions raises the question to what extent our perception is learned and something we can learn about. The vision often deceives us because the brain makes simplifications and assumptions based on past experiences. Nevertheless, there are notions that what can be seen is true and real. The concept of truth is discussed more than ever today and we live at a time when we are overloaded with visual information from countless sources. To close off is rarely an option, may we instead look again with new eyes?
We used this opportunity to explore concepts of time, sound, identity and neuroscience with an engaged and interested audience, using a sonification of brain activity by means of analogue synthesizers. We presented, jammed and we discussed, all within the wonderful space of Fullersta Gårds.
