Dancing ‘Exquisite Corpse’ illustrates brain waves

Posted on February 15, 2016

Friday’s performance featured John Beasant III, an assistant professor of dance. | Brittaney Penney/The Cougar
Jose Luis Contreras-Vidal details the technicalities of the performace, which is part of the research funded by the National Science Foundation. | Brittaney Penney/The Cougar
The three dancers are all fitted with sensor-embedded skullcaps to record brain activity. | Brittaney Penney/The Cougar
Friday’s performance featured John Beasant III, an assistant professor of dance. | Brittaney Penney/The Cougar
Dancers individually perform their ritual as students watched the presentation of their brainwaves. | Brittaney Penney/The Cougar
One of the dancers performs their portion of the Exquisite Corpse. | Brittaney Penney/The Cougar
Dancers' brainwaves are analyzed throughtout the performance, which was later discussed on Friday evening. | Brittaney Penney
The dancers collaborated while separated by curtains. | Brittaney Penney/The Cougar
The performance was later followed by a discussion of the dancers’ processes and the goals of the research, which studies connections between the brain and creativity, expression and the perception of art. | Brittaney Penney/The Cougar

Art and science collide in the “Your Brain on Art” dance performance, showcasing three dancers’ brain activity in a variety of disciplines, displayed in the Cullen College of Engineering 1’s atrium.

The performance is part of a pioneering research of the University’s Noninvasive Brian-Machine Interface Systems, led by neuroscientist and engineer Jose Luis Contreras-Vidal. It is funded by the National Science Foundation and aims to better understand what happens in the brain as people both make and view art.

“The process (of) creating art, whether (it’s) a performance, a painting or music, leads to innovation,” Contreras-Vidal told The Cougar about his project.

Friday’s performance featured assistant professor of dance John Beasant III, associate professor of dance Teresa Chapman, and associate professor of dance Becky Valls.

All dancers were wearing sensor-embedded skullcaps to record brain activity. All three individually performed a variation of Exquisite Corpse, a game involving chance collaborations made famous by Surrealists in the 1920s.

The series is part of a collaboration between Contreras-Vidal, Blaffer Art Museum and members of the UH and Houston art communities.

The work will continue with a group of musicians on March 1.

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