Dreams of Mice: Ron, 19 October 2014 at 2:48am - A 3D animation artwork expressing neural activity captured from a dreaming mouse.

Abstract

boredomresearch, Isley and Smith’s artwork ‘Dreams of Mice: Ron, 19 October 2014 at 2:48am’ investigates the ethereal space of dreams, considering the increased control, management and disruption of sleep behaviour in humans. Collaborating with Dr Vladyslav Vyazovskiy, a neuroscientist at the University of Oxford, capturing and recording the dreams of laboratory mice, boredomresearch reveal the intriguing beauty of slumber in this real-time artwork driven by the firing neurons of dreaming mice. The impulses of a recorded dream provide the input signal for a visual and acoustic expression of dream activity, evocative both of firing neurons and a subterranean sleeping chamber in which we view the intimate and private fluttering of slumber. Exploring a changed understanding of sleep in a contemporary world of instant messaging and 24/7 connectivity, where we are encouraged to remain permanently available, boredomresearch question the importance of the non productive third of our lives we spend asleep. This artwork was produced for an exhibition curated by Monica Bello, Head of Arts, CERN in Transitio_MX, Festival of Electronic & Video Art, National Arts Centre, Mexico City (2015). Other international peer-reviewed exhibitions include: ACM Creativity and Cognition Exhibition, the Glasgow School of Art (2015) and Transmission Symposium, Bournemouth University (2015). The video version of the artwork is being utilised as a teaching aid for MSc students at the University of Oxford.