Neurotopographics

New interactive film experience brings together the worlds of art, architecture and neuroscience

11 January 2008

A new groundbreaking exhibition coming to the Gimpel Fils gallery in London will, for the first time, blur the boundaries of art, architecture and neuroscience in exploring how mysterious patterns of brain cell activity allow us to perceive and remember space.

The interactive film installation 'Neurotopographics' is the result of a Wellcome Trust-funded partnership between neuroscientist Dr Hugo Spiers, artist Antoni Malinowski and architect Bettina Vismann. The exhibition will be accompanied by a short 'in conversation' event where the artist, architect and scientist will be joined by Dr Chiara Nosarti, a lecturer in mental health studies, and Jasia Reichardt, art writer and curator, in explaining what they have learned from this unique collaboration.

Deep in the innermost recesses of our brain are cells that provide us with a mental map of space and a sense of direction. The cells help us remember the past, and are among the first to be affected in Alzheimer's disease. Three distinct types of cell have been identified by their unique activity patterns: place cells, which provide a 'you are here' signal as part of an organised mental map of space; recently discovered grid cells, which signal information about distances travelled; and head direction cells, which provide an internal compass. Collectively they help us to stay oriented and navigate.

"The discovery of these three types of cells has provided a fundamental insight into our relationship to space that spans across science, architecture and art," explains Dr Hugo Spiers. "If you were to record from each of these cells as a person walked around in a building you would get the sense of an integrated map and compass system representing the space surrounding that person. The basis of this discovery has inspired this collaboration and resultant film."

For the film installation, the scientific model of place, grid and head direction cells is combined with the common experience of walking through space. Following the journey of a person through a space - which happens to be the gallery itself - the actor is filmed with two camera viewpoints: a static wide-angle one, similar to a surveillance perspective recording the movement and spatial position; and a dynamic point of view, filmed out of the perspective of the actor's eyes, recording subjective impressions of the space and his passage.

Both views are combined with a dramatic and intriguing two-dimensional graphic animation, displayed on the floor, indicating assumed brain cell activity patterns. The abstract scientific patterns will be merged on the plan of the room to point out the physical congruence of brain activity and spatial cognition.

"From an architectural point of view, I find the correspondence between what occurs in the brain and the physical nature of space and spatial navigation fascinating," explains Bettina Vismann. "The direct correlation of cell activity to the place a subject is occupying suggests, among other things, that an inner map of the surroundings is being constructed. Working with a neuroscientist for the last year has provided me with a more profound understanding of the scientific bases of spatial perception. This can not only inspire but also inform the design process and help formulate ways of organising space in architectural projects."

Media enquiries, interviews and image requests

Mike Findlay
Wellcome Trust Media Office
T +44 (0)20 7611 8612
E m.findlay@wellcome.ac.uk

Notes to editors

Artist, architecture and neuroscientist in conversation
Saturday 19 January, 16.00-19.00 followed by drinks

Neuroscientist Dr Hugo Spiers will set the scene and explain how new scientific discoveries of how the brain works have helped us to develop our understanding of how we perceive and remember space. Architect Bettina Vismann will then explain what the scientific research may mean for the future of architectural practice. Artist Antoni Malinowski will talk about his 20-year long preoccupation with making linear wall drawings, which focus on the intersection of cultural and natural orders and the meeting of architectural space and daylight. Dr Chiara Nosarti, from the Institute of Psychiatry, will discuss psychiatric delusions and hallucinations relating to the perception of space. Jasia Reichardt, art writer and curator, will open up the discussion to the audience and put this project into the context of other collaborative science and arts projects.

Biographies

Dr Hugo Spiers is a principle investigator at the UCL Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology. His current research is funded by a Wellcome Trust Advanced Training Fellowship and is focused on understanding the neural basis of navigational guidance. More broadly he is interested in how various brain structures allow us to perceive, imagine and remember information in the world around us.

Antoni Malinowski is a visual artist who works with pigment, light, movement and time, investigating the dynamic relationship that exists between pictorial and architectural spaces. He makes temporary and permanent interventions into buildings; paints canvases, walls, pavements and ceilings; orchestrates performances through cities and structures; and works with dancers, composers and musicians.

Malinowski is best known for his famous 'Vermilion Wall' - a wall painting spanning the three floors of the foyer at Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, London. His most important solo exhibitions include the monumental 'Synchrony' at Camden Arts Centre, London and 'Thresholdscapes' (with musical collaboration by Michael Nyman) at the Gimpel Fels gallery, London. His works are in many major collections including the British Council and Tate, London.

Dr Chiara Nosarti is a lecturer in mental health studies and neuroimaging at The Institute of Psychiatry. Her research investigates topics such as the effect of birth complications on brain function and psychosis.

Jasia Reichardt is an exhibition organiser and a writer on art. She was Assistant Director of the ICA in London between 1963 and 1971, and Director of the Whitechapel Art Gallery between 1974 and 1976. She has taught at the Architectural Association and other colleges, has written for most of the international art magazines and has contributed to many international exhibitions and conferences throughout the world. She is principally interested in the relationships between art and science; art and technology; and art and the history of ideas.

Architect Bettina Vismann is running an interdisciplinary practice in Berlin, combining academic research with architectural design. Her initial work with spatial and conceptual models of dust led to further involvement with scientific research of microdimensions. Vismann has used her ongoing creative dialogue with science as a basis for her art installations. She has also presented her particular research in performances, lectures, workshops and publications. The theoretical and artistic work is the underlay for her architectural practice.

Vismann studied at the University of Stuttgart, ETH Zürich and at Kingston University, London. She has taught architecture at the ETH Zürich and at the TU Berlin.

The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending around £500 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing.

Gimpel Fils was founded in 1946 by brothers Charles and Peter Gimpel. They added 'Fils' in homage to their father René, the dealer and collector whose journal 'Diary of an Art Dealer' was first published in 1966. During the 1950s and 60s the gallery was associated with the avant-garde, giving Lynn Chadwick, Anthony Caro, Peter Lanyon and Alan Davie their first exhibitions, alongside exhibitions of Larry Rivers, Marcel Duchamp and Yves Klein.

While the gallery continues to work with an older generation of British abstract painters including Alan Davie and Albert Irvin (in keeping with its history), under the direction of fourth-generation dealer Rene Gimpel and co-director Jackie Haliday, Gimpel Fils continues to develop its contemporary programme with the recent inclusion of Andres Serrano, Callum Morton and Hannah Maybank.

The gallery underwent major refurbishment in the winter of 2000 in order to update the gallery space to reflect the dynamism and contemporary nature of Gimpel Fils's exhibition programme. The inaugural installation by Richard Wilson marked a new era in the gallery's history and cemented Gimpel Fils's continuing commitment to contemporary art.