London Design Biennale 2023 pavilion deep dive
CATCH BEATIE WOLFE’S SONIC SELF-PORTRAIT IMPRINTING AT THE LONDON DESIGN BIENNALE NOW
By Mark Westall • 15 June 2023
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imPRINTING Beatie Wolfe’s sonic self-portrait is being exhibited at the London Design Biennale at Somerset House open until June 25th.
Beatie Wolfe, imPRINTING, Somerset House Photo: Hideko-San
imPRINTING transports visitors inside the artist’s brain via a retro-future “thinking cap” allowing them to tune into and discover its many channels and sonic imprints including conversations, collaborations, music, memory, hopes, fears and dreams.
In this sonic self-portrait, “musical weirdo and visionary” Beatie Wolfe presents a new format for the digital age: a data-encoded “thinking cap” tailored by Mr Fish as a counterpart to their award-winning, wearable Album Jacket. Via retro listening stations, plugged into the hat, you are able to listen to and explore the brain’s many channels which include music (limbic system), memory (temporal neocortex), collaborations (medial prefrontal cortex), conversations (Wernicke’s area) with the data related to each “brain channel” ecologically encoded in glass and woven into the cap to be preserved for up to 10,000 years.
Drawing on her dementia and music research work, this installation takes a creative and playful look at the nature of neurology and explores the importance of imprinting in the digital age: a philosophical principle and overarching theme of Wolfe’s work. imPRINTING shows us how via this sonic portrait we can gain a greater understanding of ourselves and of one another in the process.
This exhibition was made possible with the support of… Avid Technology // Wolfe’s sonic self-portrait was created from over 500 hours of footage and material in Avid’s Pro Tools using the Carbon interface. Music for Dementia // As an active ambassador and founding member of Music for Dementia, Wolfe’s installation is supported by the charity in celebration of ‘Thank You Day’ on July 2nd.
Beatie Wolfe imPRINTING Somerset House London Design Biennale
Brain Channels…
1. Collaborations in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex
· A compilation of key collaborations which include Postcards for Democracy with Mark Mothersbaugh, studio sessions with Linda Perry, Solar Signs with Aaron Rose, the Raw Space Broadcast with Nobel Laureate Dr Robert Wilson and Climate x Art with Brian Eno
2. Conversations in Wernicke’s Area
· A montage of key dialogues that have imprinted which include Shirley Manson talking about truth, Henry Rollins talking about courage, Fred Armisen evangelising about London, Laraaji on laughter, Allee Willis talking about joy.
3. Outer Self in the Cerebral Cortex
· A portrait of the outer self, work and philosophy featuring key projects (from Space Beams to Anti-streams) and the overarching ethos that connects it all
4. Inner Self in the Hippocampus
· An exploration of the inner self and everything from breakdowns to breakthroughs via journal entries age 11-19 which include poems, lyrics, meditations and musings
5. Music [Rewind] in the Limbic System
· A chronological selection of back catalogue material including early demos (from age 9) live performances (Dodgers Stadium, Nobel Prize Summit etc), and collaborations (with Linda Perry, Laraaji etc)
6. Music [Forward] in the Limbic System
· A selection of unreleased home demos of new self-produced tracks that will make up the next album
7. Memory in the Temporal Neocortex
· Formative memories of being a adolescent in London in the 90s and 00s which include gigs, school trips and home life
8. Sounds in the Primary Auditory Cortex
· Sounds that imprinted growing up in London in the 90s and 00s which include everything from school bus routes to video games
London Design Biennale, 25th June at Somerset House, London. TICKETS londondesignbiennale.com @londondesignbiennale
Art: imprinting.me
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Mark Westall is the Founder and Editor of FAD magazine Founder and co-publisher of Art of Conversation and founder of the platform @worldoffad