Somnolent Fantasies - The Sleeper is an interactive installation that takes the participant on a journey through the stages of sleep. The participant interacts with the sleeper by setting the time on a clock interface. This triggers the stage of sleep the sleeper is experiencing at that time. The sleeper controls image movement via data recorded at the Centre for Sleep Research. The participant will experience the stages of sleep in the form of Quicktime movies, image, sound and text.
Originating as a website, created in 1998 during the first part of an artist-in-residence at the Centre for Sleep Research, Somnolent Fantasies brings some of the dream world to the internet. http://www.unisa.edu.au/sleep/art/title.html
Dreaming (REM sleep) occurs on average three times per night, whether you remember or not. Past and present are synthesised by dream experience. There are strong links between memory and emotion. Everyday we are reaching into the depths of our subconscious mind to let memory and imagination reveal our innermost secrets.
The majority of sleepers have a lack of control over the content of their dreams. The way in which the sleeper can do anything in dreams without any moral or ethical ramifications has been an inspiration to me. I am particularly interested in the sexual and violent imagery that is often experienced by dreamers. In dreams the experiences seem real to the sleeper, often leaving a profound impression on the person's waking life. This led me to the question -How can I remap the universal primal nature of the dreamstate so that others can experience it in the "real world".
I became interested in how the sleeper could physically control elements of a digitally simulated dream. Using EEG, EOG, ECG and EMG data recorded in the sleep lab, I am attempting to remap elements to create a fluidity and motion that is born of the electrical energy of the human body. The meat has control - subconscious control. Mind control.
Somnolent Fantasies - The Sleeper is an ongoing exploration into the sleeping mind and how data generated in sleep can control elements of the "real world."
Somnolent Fantasies -The Sleeper has been exhibited in 2002 at ConVerge the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art at the Adelaide Festival and Immersion, John Curtin Gallery at the Bienniale of Electronic Art Perth (BEAP). In 2003 the piece is shown at +playengines+, Experimedia Gallery, State Library of Victoria as part of the Digital Art and Culture Conference (DAC).
ŠLynne
Sanderson 2001
Email: lynne@va.com.au