Benjamin Staude/Tim Otto Roth: The Sonapticon – A Space as an Acoustic Neuronal Network

Neuroaesthetics | Symposium


Symposium im ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie,
22.-24. November 2012
In Kooperation und mit Unterstützung der Gemeinnützigen
Hertie-Stiftung.


For two years now, artist Tim Otto Roth and mathematical
neuroscientist
Benjamin Staude have been working in the Sound Dome of the ZKM,
where they
make the fascinating world of neuronal interactivity come alive
using synthetic
audio neurons. In the Sonapticon Roth and Staude combine a unique
translation
of neuronal systems’ electrical communication into acoustic
communication
via the forty-three loudspeakers of the Sound Dome with the
deceleration of
biological neuronal processes that take place on the timescale of
milliseconds.
In this way, in the Sonapticon neuronal communication mechanisms
become
both a sensual and a comprehensible experience.
Intuitive understanding of the acoustic feedback through sine
tones in the
Sound Dome space is complemented visually through lights mounted
on the
speakers indicating firing activity and a visualization of the
changing
membrane potentials projected onto the floor. Thus, with their
Sonapticon, Roth and
Staude transform the Sound Dome into a new instrument for which
they have
developed a special method of composing in and with the Sound
Dome space:
setting the connections, choice and location of scales up to the
1/8 tone range,
and tempo variation. At the concert premiere three solo Piccolo
flute players
demonstrate different facets of the Sonapticon through their
precise interven-
tions, which ranged from a microtonal soundscape to a
pseudo-repetitive pat-
tern in the inaudible sound spectrum of ultra sound – a musical
brainstorm.
More information on the work can be found on:
www.pixelsex.org/sonapticon.


Tim Otto Roth studied politics and philosophy in Tübingen before
he changed
to studying liberal arts at the Kunsthochschule Kassel.
Since 2008, he is a doctoral candidate at the Academy of Media
Arts Cologne.
In 1997, Roth gave his first major audiovisual performance with
Rudi Meier (composition) and Christoph Böhme (electronics)
at various venues including the Donaueschingen Society of the
Friends of Music.
Since 2002, Roth has aroused attention with his large-scale
projects in public spaces.
In many of his projects he works closely together with
scientists
(from KIT Karlsruhe, the European Space Agency, and NASA, amongst
others).
He has received numerous awards, including the 2004 German Light
Art Award LUX.US,
Lüdenscheid, and the International Media Art Award of the SWR and
ZKM | Karlsruhe in 2004;
he received an Honorary Mention at Ars Electronica, Linz, in
2009.


After his studies of mathematics and philosophy at the Technische
Universität
Berlin with a focus on differential geometry and philosophy of
science,
Dr. Benjamin Staude turned his interest to Computational
Neuroscience.
With a NaFöG scholarship at the Freie Universität Berlin and two
years as a research
assistant at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Wako-Shi,
Japan, he received
his doctorate in biology in 2008 from the
Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg.
After two more years as a research associate at the Bernstein
Center of Computational Neuroscience Freiburg,
Staude moved back to Berlin where he works as a scientific
consultant and programmer
for arts and science projects (for example, with Tim Otto Roth,
Rainer Dunkel, and Archimedes GmbH), and as a
musician in various bands and projects (Mariahilff, Kapaikos).