Performance art, often touted as theater’s elusive counterpart, is prone to attract abstract expressions of the human experience in all shapes and forms. With the image in our minds of performance artist Chris Burden crawling naked across broken glass, you may hesitantly ask how the medium of performance art can be applied as an effective learning tool in the sciences? In fact, you may be more than slightly hesitant.
There is a common misconception that the arts and sciences, though both require a great deal of skill and knowledge, cannot exist symbiotically in one practice. With recent initiatives to incorporate art as a useful tool in the STEM program in the U.S., new partnerships are emerging that, in spite of skepticism surrounding their compatibility, could prove to be the beginning of a lasting partnership that caters to a new type of learner.
The field of neuroscience pairs well with theater and performance art for it often asks some of the same questions: what is the impetus for human behavior? Why do we act a certain way under given circumstances, and then, in turn, act differently when put under the same circumstances? Unlike an experiment in a lab, you cannot repeat this test and expect the same results. In spite of these differences, parallels arise for both fields gain knowledge about the world based on information learned through observation or experimentation.
When asked about this dichotomy between science and art, astronaut and physicist, Mae Jemison, stated, “Differences between arts and sciences are not analytical versus intuitive. They are manifestations of the same thing… avatars of human creativity” (1). Though we prefer to make the distinction between analytical versus intuitive, right brain versus left brain, the separation cannot be made so easily. Recent initiatives have been undertaken by Marina Abramović Institute (MAI) in order to blur this line drawn between the arts and the sciences.
Breaching the Boundaries Between Arts and Sciences
Within the past few years, performance artist Marina Abramović has established herself as a force in the performance art world. In one of her most famous long durational works, “The Artist is Present,” which premiered at The Modern Museum of Art (MoMA) in 2010, served as part of a retrospective of her past work spanning over four decades. If you are not already familiar, the piece consisted of Abramović sitting in a chair seven hours a day for three months and inviting strangers to sit across from her in silence for any length of time to engage in mutual gaze. The responses of the participants were unexpected: some of them smiled, some of them looked uncomfortable, but most of them cried.
Marina Abramović in “The Artist is Present.” MoMA, 2010
How can the mere act of gazing into the eyes of another inspire such emotion? In an interview on NPR, Marina Abramović claimed that during her performance of “The Artist is Present,” one gentleman sat with her over twenty-one times (2). At the end of her performance, Abramović stated that she felt she knew this man “intimately,” and therefore, had no need to speak with him after the performance. Also being interviewed was neuroscientist, Christof Koch, who asked her what it was that she knew about this man? Could he set up an experiment where Abramović’s knowledge could be compared to the knowledge of a close friend? Koch’s discerning tone implied a level of doubt, but it’s not that he didn’t believe her; he simply didn’t understand her.
Abramović’s interest lies in the transfer of energy between performer and public. In an attempt to gain insight into the science of this feeling of connectedness, Abramović collaborated with neuroscientist, Suzanne Dikker and other artists on an artwork entitled “Measuring the Magic of Mutual Gaze” (3). In this piece, the concept and form was similar to Abramović’s original piece, “The Artist is Present,” but varied in that the experiment strove to gather tangible results by using a real-time index to measure brainwaves. Two participants sat across from one another fitted with electroencephalogram headsets (EEG) in order to measure brainwave activity. By engaging in mutual gaze, spectators could witness moments of synchrony in displayed images of these waves. Through the birth of these images, Abramović and Dikker accomplished a tall order: to make the invisible visible.
Suzanne Dikker and Marina Abramović in “Measuring the Magic of Mutual Gaze.” Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, 2011.
Not only are the images visually striking, but they also add validity to the phenomenon that Abramović described. It turns out, it is possible to achieve brainwave synchrony through gaze alone. Though the images serve as evidence for this connection, the experiment did not outline the specific areas of the brain that inspired this overwhelming feeling of emotion, nor do they explain Abramović’s claim of knowing intimate details about others. The important question is, can Abramović’s experience be explained through complex neuronal activity or does this discovery beg for a deeper, more interdisciplinary approach to expose the mystery of the human brain?
Mirror Neurons: The Empathy Neuron?
Recently, mirror neurons have been advertised as what enables us to feel other people’s emotions. The importance of mirror neurons in human interaction has been a highly debated topic since their discovery in the 1990s by scientists at the Università di Parma in Italy. Activity in mirror neurons, also called “empathy neurons” found in the ventral premotor cortex (area F5) in Macaque monkeys, were shown to play a key role in a monkey’s ability to match their actions to the actions performed by another subject (4). The function of these mirror neurons work in direct correlation with something called gaze behavior. In this study, scientists recorded two sets of data: one for eye position and one for neuronal activity. They wanted to see whether or not looking at the presented action could influence mirror neuron visual response. Monkeys were asked to place their hand in a specific starting position, then after witnessing the scientist reach for a piece of food, they were asked to do the same. Scientists found that a higher portion of these mirror neurons were activated when the monkeys first watched this action be performed before they attempted to carry out the task.
A plethora of evidence from different scientific studies have either supported or debunked the claim that these mirror neurons allow us to gain insight into a deeper understanding of human behavior and experience. Neurons in the ventral premotor cortex were targeted as what allowed the monkeys to respond to the actions of another person. This data was then used to state that these neurons are what allow humans to understand the goals behind each other’s actions. Attempting to derive meaning from these studies, some neuroscientists even went as far to say that these neurons helped to shape our civilization. Though the importance of mirror neurons has been somewhat discredited over the past few years, the theory is still highly popular.
This in-depth study of mirror neurons may not be enough to state with certainty whether the premotor cortex is the area of the brain responsible for Abramović’s observation. Although, if this type of experiment can inspire scientists, artists, and the public to engage in scientific research, is a concrete explanation necessary?
Challenges Ahead
If you have ever tried to sit and gaze into someone else’s eyes for an extended period of time, I think we can all agree that it is uncomfortable. Being present and experiencing the moment is often described as an ability of a highly connected individual. However, this level of presence becomes increasingly harder to achieve as we move further into the technological age. We are comfortable interacting with gadgets, but with the onslaught of an increased Internet presence, I question how this impacts our ability to interact socially in a real world setting. Attempting to connect with another being demands vulnerability. Feeling exposed means taking a risk and during a session of intense mutual gaze, it becomes hard to hide.
According to Abramović, performance art is all about context: “If you bake some bread in a museum space it becomes art, but if you do it at home you’re a baker” (5). This too, could be applied to science. If art can be born through the juxtaposition of two opposing entities, maybe a change of scenery is enough to turn the task of streaking bacteria on to an agar plate into a performance piece. Despite future obstacles that will arise during the symbiotic working relationship between the performing art and the sciences, it cannot be denied that at their core, both artists and scientists share one vital ingredient: curiosity.
Imagine Science Films (ISF) is proud to announce a new partnership with the Marina Abramović Institute (MAI) to create a brand new science performance art series in order to explore innovative methods to engage the public in scientific issues.
Imagine Science Spotlight Film 17: Crowdsourcing Neuroscience with Suzanne Dikker.
By Alison Irvine @alisonirvine1
The Performing Science column will explore the relationship between the performing arts and sciences, specifically concerning innovative methods to teach science through performance art.
Alison Irvine is a theater artist and writer who recently graduated from Eugene Lang College with a degree in theater and interdisciplinary science.