Brain in the Shell

for Brain Computer Interfaces, 4D sound System and 3 to 6 performers

Opening of the Syndicate of Space and Sound.
Budapest, Hungary
2023







Brain in the Shell is performance that explores the possibilities of consumer-level devices to create a musical experience. Beyond the sonification of brain frequency bands and the translation of data into “mental states,” the piece explores the performativity of wearing BCI devices as an act of intrusion and violence. The device’sincompatibility and the practical constrains of closed consumer-level are made evident in the unexpectedsonic glitches that it generates. The piece creates dissonant soundscapes and eroding sonic decompositions through the use of the electrode’s raw data in order to provide a more sensorial and physical translation of brain data. The conceptual boundaries between human and non-human agencies are challenged, as we embrace the possibilities of utopic places generated through the collaboration of humans and machines.

The first presentation of this performance took place on May 2023 at the Syndicate of Sound and Space (SSS) in Budapest using 4DSOUND technology. This is the development of a three-year long research on brainwave sonification, which has resulted in papers, conference talks and performances.