SOMA calls into question the limits of the mind-body continuum and aims to channel the subjectivity of the mind towards an externally defined performance subduing its entanglement with the body. The viewer, rather than using their internal sensations to trigger movement from within their own body, projects their mind onto SOMA.
The data from an EEG sensor maps the changes from the mind as perceivable movements in the performance of the suspended figure. In disconnecting the viewer’s mind from their body and reterritorializing it onto an external figurine, the artwork signifies a rupture in the seemingly isolated mind-body dualism and extends the range of subjectivity to accommodate non-human others.
Process: The brain wave data from the EEG sensor is transmitted wirelessly to a computer. The 4 individual ways pass through a recurrent neural network which outputs six continous vectors that define the displacement of the six motors that hold different parts of the body.
The brain-wave data is processed by the AI such that the movement of the body is maximized as the Delta wave (one signifying focus and concentration) reaches its maximum. Changes in the Gamma and Beta waves contribute to a unique posture of the external body. The alpha brain waves correspond to motor functions and fluctuate when the user moves their body.
Since SOMA tries to dislocate the viewer's mind from their own body and transpose it onto another, it is only when the viewer stops to engaging with their own body does the external body begin to move. The neural network is thereby trained to minimize its outputs when fluctuations in the alpha wave are detected.