Event 1 Blog: Cybernetic Art

 Event 1 Blog: Cybernetic Art

28 April 2024

If you break apart the word “cybernetics”, its definition becomes quite self explanatory. “Cyber” could be described as “technology” and “-netics” could be derived from “kinetics”, which could be described as “reactions/communications''. This is exactly what cybernetics and cybernetic art is composed of, making art out of technology that reacts to feedback communications of the person interacting with the art piece. The physical output of the technology used is dependent on the digital feedback of the user. During the event, our host Ryszard Kluszczyński, placed importance on the artist/engineer Wen-Ying Tsai, who “is one of the forerunners of cybernetic art,” and has pieces that have been shown at MoMA and Howard Wise Gallery (qtd. In Klusznzyński, lecture). One of the pieces shown during the event was called Terrain 01 by Ulrike Gabriel (1993). This piece uses small robots that move depending on the intensity of light they sense, which is controlled by the brain waves of the subject. This piece illustrates the new world that cybernetic art can construct because “through an indirect interface and immaterial form of communication (brain activity), the internal and external world become reciprocal and inverted,” (Media Art Net). 

Ulrike Gabriel, Terrain 01, 1993

In relation to this course, I found connections between cybernetic art and the material on medicine, technology, and art. Not only did this event on cybernetic art help me further understand how medicine can be applied to art through technology, but it also made me contemplate how it could apply. I was drawn to Eduardo Kac’s piece, Olfactory Art, from week 4 and wondered how cybernetics could be added to the experience and further subject interaction. For example, subjects could wear brain sensors that sense positive and negative reactions to the scent released by the box. The piece could then react in different ways such as releasing a different smell if the reaction was negative, or portraying an image on a screen representing the reaction. The role of cybernetics is being applied in medical technologies already, with doctors using cybernetic technology to aid in patient care. For example, using wearable devices, biofeedback systems, and robotic surgical systems to improve care and outcomes ( Overall, cybernetic art has been around for quite some time, but with the evolving technology of the present this area of art will continue to have constantly new applications.

https://financialtribune.com/articles/people/39373/medical-cybernetics-in-varsities

Sources

Matthew, J. (2023, June 9). The future role of cybernetics in Healthcare: Transforming Patient Care and Beyond. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/future-role-cybernetics-healthcare-transforming-patient-jay-matthew/ 

Media Art Net. (2024, April 29). Media art net: Gabriel, ulrike: Terrain 01. Medien Kunst Netz. http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/terrain/#reiter 

Kac, E. (2014). Olfactory art. OSMOBOXES. https://www.ekac.org/osmobox.html