Science-art: neuronaturalism beyond the decentred spectator

Science-art collaborations are a growth area. An example is the Wellcome Collection exhibition “States of Mind”. I focus on one work yellowbluepink by Ann Veronica Janssens. As framed within the exhibition this piece is understood to present a model of spectatorship in which the art-encounter prompts an awareness of the pos s ibi l it y of neuroscientific self-understanding. I take it that science-art projects want to spread this celebration of “objective thought”; this is their realist agenda. The scientific framing of yellowbluepink fails in this regard because of a striking contradiction at its heart. The dominant art historical interpretation of this piece includes a spectator who is “decentred”, u nabl e to know him or herself. This contradiction creates a methodological problem for the project, one that negatively impacts its ability to ambit ious l y promote its agenda. On the basis of this analysis I sketch out the conditions for an ambitious project. It would need to acknowledge the “artworld” and it would require the invention of a new model of spectatorship, one that promoted (self)-awareness of humankinds’ impressive epistemic capacity. This anti-phenomenological figure is formulated with reference to the nemocentric subject

Inhumanist art and the decolonisation of nature

This article seeks to contest the hold exerted by the OOO/ANT/NM axis on contemporary art. It does so in order to pursue a theory that might aid the decolonisation of nature. This includes providing resources for a strong defence against post-truth ideology. OOO, et al. are problematic to the extent that their Anti-rational-anthropocentrism results in contradiction and political debilitation, including an inability to contest post-truth demagogy. My theory is instead indebted to Ray Brassier and Peter Wolfendale, an Inhumanism that retains a position for wo/man’s exceptional rational-capacity. I read Pierre Huyghe’s After ALife Ahead as bearing this Inhumanism

Bi-allelic variants in CELSR3 are implicated in central nervous system and urinary tract anomalies

CELSR3 codes for a planar cell polarity protein. We describe twelve affected individuals from eleven independent families with bi-allelic variants in CELSR3. Affected individuals presented with an overlapping phenotypic spectrum comprising central nervous system (CNS) anomalies (7/12), combined CNS anomalies and congenital anomalies of the kidneys and urinary tract (CAKUT) (3/12) and CAKUT only (2/12). Computational simulation of the 3D protein structure suggests the position of the identified variants to be implicated in penetrance and phenotype expression. CELSR3 immunolocalization in human embryonic urinary tract and transient suppression and rescue experiments of Celsr3 in fluorescent zebrafish reporter lines further support an embryonic role of CELSR3 in CNS and urinary tract formation.</p

Bi-allelic variants in CELSR3 are implicated in central nervous system and urinary tract anomalies

CELSR3 codes for a planar cell polarity protein. We describe twelve affected individuals from eleven independent families with bi-allelic variants in CELSR3. Affected individuals presented with an overlapping phenotypic spectrum comprising central nervous system (CNS) anomalies (7/12), combined CNS anomalies and congenital anomalies of the kidneys and urinary tract (CAKUT) (3/12) and CAKUT only (2/12). Computational simulation of the 3D protein structure suggests the position of the identified variants to be implicated in penetrance and phenotype expression. CELSR3 immunolocalization in human embryonic urinary tract and transient suppression and rescue experiments of Celsr3 in fluorescent zebrafish reporter lines further support an embryonic role of CELSR3 in CNS and urinary tract formation.</p

Coexpression and activation of TRPV1 suppress the activity of the KCNQ2/3 channel

Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is a ligand-gated nonselective cation channel expressed predominantly in peripheral nociceptors. By detecting and integrating diverse noxious thermal and chemical stimuli, and as a result of its sensitization by inflammatory mediators, the TRPV1 receptor plays a key role in inflammation-induced pain. Activation of TRPV1 leads to a cascade of pro-nociceptive mechanisms, many of which still remain to be identified. Here, we report a novel effect of TRPV1 on the activity of the potassium channel KCNQ2/3, a negative regulator of neuronal excitability. Using ion influx assays, we revealed that TRPV1 activation can abolish KCNQ2/3 activity, but not vice versa, in human embryonic kidney (HEK)293 cells. Electrophysiological studies showed that coexpression of TRPV1 caused a 7.5-mV depolarizing shift in the voltage dependence of KCNQ2/3 activation compared with control expressing KCNQ2/3 alone. Furthermore, activation of TRPV1 by capsaicin led to a 54% reduction of KCNQ2/3-mediated current amplitude and attenuation of KCNQ2/3 activation. The inhibitory effect of TRPV1 appears to depend on Ca2+ influx through the activated channel followed by Ca2+-sensitive depletion of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate and activation of protein phosphatase calcineurin. We also identified physical interactions between TRPV1 and KCNQ2/3 coexpressed in HEK293 cells and in rat dorsal root ganglia neurons. Mutation studies established that this interaction is mediated predominantly by the membrane-spanning regions of the respective proteins and correlates with the shift of KCNQ2/3 activation. Collectively, these data reveal that TRPV1 activation may deprive neurons from inhibitory control mediated by KCNQ2/3. Such neurons may thus have a lower threshold for activation, which may indirectly facilitate TRPV1 in integrating multiple noxious signals and/or in the establishment or maintenance of chronic pain

The Politics of Ambiguity

The essay focuses on French philosopher Jacques Rancière and argues for the transformation of his theory of aesthetics so as to accommodate swathes of directly political artwork, thus countering his tendency to disqualify and denigrate this genre of work. I show that Rancière’s edict against artwork that communicates in clear political messages can be overturned if those messages are proven to signify a genuine egalitarianism. The twist being that Rancière has done more than anyone else to theorise this politics of equality. Therefore I use one part of his philosophy against another in order to recalibrate rather than destroy his aesthetic system. My example of artwork that is directly political is drawn from the oeuvre of American performance practitioner Suzanne Lac

The nemocentric spectator

I shall present for thirty minutes on a recent research project, in which I take inspiration from the thought of Ray Brassier to attempt a move beyond the spectatorial model of the decentred subject; a model theorised by Rosalind Krauss in the 70’s but still alive and well in contemporary art discours

Images Integral to an Experiment: Alien Bodies and How to Wear Them (Phase I)

The images stored here, along with short written captions, were an integral component of a recent psychology experiment, titled Alien Bodies and How to Wear Them (Phase I). The research targeted perceptual body image, investigating how body dissatisfaction might impact the functioning of this phenomenon. The experiment was designed and run by me (Fine Art), Kirstin Mackenzie (Psychology), Heather Sunderland (Psychology), and Kai Speed (Fine Art). We received UROS funding in 2020 to develop the experiment and are currently writing up the findings for the journal Body Image. When designing the experiment we engaged in a world-building exercise in which alien planets and their inhabitants were imagined. The creatures were creative hybrids of terrestrial non-human animals, and each creature set (one set per planet) was composed of several figures on a continuum starting with a recognisably human character to a more fantastical one. Those who participated in the experiment were provided with drawings of the alien beings and their home environments, further supplemented by short captions. The participants were then asked a series of questions, one being: “If you lived on this planet, which body would you choose to inhabit?”. As per our hypothesis we found there to be a correlation between a participant’s existing body image, and the choices they made regarding the aliens, with those possessing a negative body image (raised body concern and low self-esteem) being less likely to identify with the most alien creatures. The images and captions will form part of a practice research package either bundled with the official scientific paper to be published in Body Image, or alongside a journal article that theorises the innovative method we utilised in the development of our experiment, a form of collaborative thinking in which images played a pivotal role. Much has been written about interdisciplinary practice research, but little of this literature attempts to make use of concepts from contemporary psychological science to examine and improve these methods. This is my aim, starting with a journal article, to be completed in 2023

Science-art: accelerated models of spectating

My paper proposes a role for contemporary art as part of the broader accelerationist project, summarised by Brassier as the attempt to bring about a moment “where human beings have understood themselves - including their biological inheritance and their physical constraints – sufficiently well to […] refashion the world to make it amenable to rational ends”. Many are currently engaged in thinking art as accelerationism; my contribution is to suggest that art open itself up to the influence of scientific naturalism, specifically neuroscience. Explicit Sci-Art collaborations are a growth area. I want to accelerate the interpenetration at work here. To clarify the path forward I proceed by critiquing the limitations of an existing Sci-Art project: Ann Veronica Janssens’ yellowbluepink, an installation which opened the Welcome Trust’s current major exhibition, States of Mind. I highlight a particular factor which inhibits this and similar projects: the model of selfhood that dominates contemporary art, which is the basis of its ideal spectator, the – so called – decentred subject, is, according to my original analysis, constituted as refractory to science. There is a deep paradox in projects wherein this model of subjectivity is brought into a scientific field, one that seeks to explain experience and subjecthood in terms of a neurobiological base. Art can escape this bind by progressively recalibrating, in light of neuroscience, its theory of spectatorship. In addition art-encounters could be designed to enable these new spectators to emerge. This is art’s contribution to epistemic acceleration. One such radical recalibration might base itself on Thomas Metzinger’s speculation about a Nemocentric brain-state; the resulting spectator would understand herself to be no-one and no-where. This would be a radicalisation of the logic of decentring, taking the subject into uncharted territory

An inhuman art

Realisms and Object Orientations: Art, Politics and the philosophy of Tristan Garcia This multidisciplinary symposium seeks to interrogate philosophical realisms and object orientations within recent thought. The idea is to contribute to the debate concerning the aesthetic and political repercussions of this discourse; topics currently hotly disputed in the artworld, academia and beyond. Tristan Garcia, the renowned young philosopher, will present. His philosophical system provides the focus for some of the papers. Artists will also contribute, exploring this philosophical territory through their performative practices. Contributors: Tristan Garcia, Dr. Iain MacKenzie, Dr. Maria Walsh, Dr Steve Klee, Ben turner, Annie Davey, Matthew de Kersaint Giraudeau This event is co-organised by two research centres from The University of Kent. Sound Image Space is located within the School of Music and Fine Art and Critical Thought is an interdisciplinary forum that traverses the Humanities and Social Sciences faculties