Subjectivity and the Virtual 12/4

The talk 'Subjectivity and the Virtual is a part of Lundahl&Seitls presentation of Work/Workshop at Weld. Featuring three unique speakers the talk will explore areas such as cognitive neuroscience, sociology/group psychology, philosophy of mind, architecture in physical and virtual spaces and contemporary art.

Henrik Ehrsson (Sweden) is a researcher at Brain and Self Laboratory Department of Neuroscience Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm. In a recent project his research group were inducing the illusion of an ‘out of body experience’ within a laboratory situation.

Ehrsson focuses on the question of how we come to feel that we own our body. This problem can be formulated in terms of a multisensory binding problem: how to combine visual, tactile, and proprioceptive information into a single coherent object that is your own limb. Within W/W we are confronted with a reality that is a pre-programmed simulation, building on multi-sensory illusions. What cognitive processes and interpretations are involved to prevail or surrender the ’self’ in a ’first person perspective’ in this situation, and how is neurological functions related to the concept of illusion under an ‘everyday’ experience.

Malin Zimm (Sweden) is an PhD in architecture and works as critic and chief director för the magazine RUM. Within the area of theoretical architecture her work has included: The Dying Dreamer– an architecture of parallel worlds and The Synesthetic Mediator. Zimm’s practice is architectonical processes where the virtual space of the mind is overlapped and extended out into the physical world. Virtual reality is a buzz-word that has been in our consciousness for long now, but what properties can we give to the term? How is the concept of the virtual embodied within the human imagination, and how does it exist in Work/Workshop?

Gemma Sharpe is a writer and academic based in London. She writes for Untitled and works with organizations including Gasworks and Afterall. Other talks have included the ICA about Tino Sehgal's trilogy of annual solo exhibitions by Tino Sehgal.

In her presentation, Gemma will position the practice of Lundahl&Seitl and Work/Workshop in terms of current thinking on visitor experience and performance within contemporary art, and in relation to contemporary art institutions who 'curate' the questions which arise from this thinking. The talk will place the work of Lundahl & Seitl within the field of contemporary artists who may share various tendencies within the work.

 

Further information:

www.lundahl-seitl.com
www.christerlundahl.com