On the Concord and Merrimack
concept and execution: Tim Wojcik
programming: Guy Dupont
An interactive installation inspired by the travels of Henry David and John Thoreau.
16mm film, perchloric acid, brain waves, cotton, and 5.1 sound, 2018
As you chart the course that Thoreau traveled in 1839,
allow pollutants of mind to adjust your view.
Submerged in sounds of the river,
you see degrees of distress—
caused by chemical pollution
and determined by the activity of your mind.
from Concord, MA to Concord, NH, 16 minutes
documentation
captured with brain wave activity provided by the artist
recorded as installed at Emerson Urban Arts Gallery on May 9, 2018
gallery instructions
On the Concord and Merrimack
an interactive multimedia experience for one
You are invited to listen without association,
to see without attachment, to breathe, and to be.
Instructions:
To experience the work as intended, you are asked to wear a brain-wave reading headband.
This commercially-manufactured device (muse by Interaxon) reads your brain activity in
alpha, beta, delta, gamma, and theta waves.
In this piece, alpha wave activity is employed to visually recall the river’s pollutants.
Please enter one at a time.
tools
Bolex H16 Reflex (image capture), Kodak 50D (film stock), Zoom H5 (audio capture), Davinci Resolve (video edit), Pro Tools (sound design), Max MSP (programming), Cotton Muslin (projection surface), Muse 1 (brain wave monitoring)