Seeing Beyond the Visual: Sensory Perception and Synesthesia in Contemporary Installation Art

In this paper, I utilize scientific theories surrounding the neurological condition synesthesia to identify how multisensory installation art can challenge our understanding of the singularity of the senses. This exploration will form the basis of my theory of “synthetic synesthesia,” a term derived from my observation of synesthetic components in installation artworks that possess elements of multisensoriality, embodiment and immersion. This theory is applied to my analysis of select pieces by Marla Hlady and Peter De Cupere whose works involve sensory combinations, such as vision/hearing/touch (Hlady), and vision/olfactory (De Cupere). The works of both of my case studies reconsider how the participant interacts with an artwork by creating installations which augment the traditional visual art experience

Kapsula

Selections from the 2015 Conference of the Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Art Histories Masters Progra

Kapsula

Selections from the 2015 Conference of the Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Art Histories Masters Progra

Constructed Atmospheres: Synesthesia and the Senses in Contemporary Art

This dissertation appropriates the term “synesthesia” from the neurological condition synesthesia, wherein the stimulation of one sense results in the stimulation of another sense. In this study synesthesia is referenced in the proposed terminology “plastic synesthesia,” a term used to define multisensorial contemporary artworks and stretch the neurological definition of the condition to encompass the concept of sensory “layering.” The concept of “layering” refers to the multiple senses induced by the case studies that are felt at the same time. Plastic synesthesia is also used to define the non-ocularcentric methodology demonstrated in this study. As a methodology, plastic synesthesia identifies the senses and affects involved in multisensory artworks to emphasize how the senses are layered to produce embodied and immersive experiences that augment the “visual” art experience. This study posits that plastic synesthetic artworks draw attention to the multisensorial nature of perception distorted by the ocularcentric and sensorially segregated model established in the modern period. This point is demonstrated first with an analysis of Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto’s sculptures, which stimulate the “lower” senses of touch and smell to facilitate an immersive art experience. It also examines Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson’s pieces that use non-art materials to produce multisensory atmospheres. Finally, this dissertation analyzes London-based design group Flying Object’s 2015 multisensory installation Tate Sensorium, Tate Britain, London, which layers visual artworks with non-visual stimuli. In utilizing these two iterations of plastic synesthesia in this dissertation, this study demonstrates an approach to analyzing artworks that considers all of the senses

Identification of a novel hantavirus strain in the root vole (Microtus oeconomus) in Lithuania, Eastern Europe

Hantaviruses are zoonotic pathogens that can cause subclinical to lethal infections in humans. In Europe, five orthohantaviruses are present in rodents: Myodes-associated Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV), Microtus-associated Tula orthohantavirus, Traemmersee hantavirus (TRAV)/ Tatenale hantavirus (TATV)/ Kielder hantavirus, rat-borne Seoul orthohantavirus, and Apodemus-associated Dobrava-Belgrade orthohantavirus (DOBV). Human PUUV and DOBV infections were detected previously in Lithuania, but the presence of Microtus-associated hantaviruses is not known. For this study we screened 234 Microtus voles, including root voles (Microtus oeconomus), field voles (Microtus agrestis) and common voles (Microtus arvalis) from Lithuania for hantavirus infections. This initial screening was based on reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) targeting the S segment and serological analysis. A novel hantavirus was detected in eight of 79 root voles tentatively named “Rusne virus” according to the capture location and complete genome sequences were determined. In the coding regions of all three genome segments, Rusne virus showed high sequence similarity to TRAV and TATV and clustered with Kielder hantavirus in phylogenetic analyses of partial S and L segment sequences. Pairwise evolutionary distance analysis confirmed Rusne virus as a strain of the species TRAV/TATV. Moreover, we synthesized the entire nucleocapsid (N) protein of Rusne virus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We observed cross-reactivity of antibodies raised against other hantaviruses, including PUUV, with this new N protein. ELISA investigation of all 234 voles detected Rusne virus-reactive antibodies exclusively in four of 79 root voles, all being also RNA positive, but not in any other vole species. In conclusion, the detection of Rusne virus RNA in multiple root voles at the same trapping site during three years and its absence in sympatric field voles suggests root voles as the reservoir host of this novel virus. Future investigations should evaluate host association of TRAV, TATV, Kielder virus and the novel Rusne virus and their evolutionary relationships

The In Situ Evaluation of the SEIS Noise Model

International audienceMimoun et al. (Space Sci Rev 211(1-4):383-428, 2017) developed a pre-landing noise model of the Martian seismometer package SEIS onboard InSight that analysed all the external and internal noise sources. We updated the environmental and instrumental parameters of the model as well as the ground properties with InSight mission data. We compared the output of the in situ noise model to the actual noise measured during the full mission for each individual noise source as well as for the full noise model. We evaluate in detail the efficiency of the model to fit the measured data and discuss the transient noise and other sources that were not included in the model. The main noise sources in the seismic bandwidth are the pressure noise and the lander noise, which is increased from the pre-landing model and overestimated when compared to the data; the magnetic field noise was overestimated in the pre-landing model and is now found to be negligible. The conclusions and models from this study could benefit future space missions

SEIS: Insight’s Seismic Experiment for Internal Structure of Mars

By the end of 2018, 42 years after the landing of the two Viking seismometers on Mars, InSight will deploy onto Mars’ surface the SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Internal Structure) instrument; a six-axes seismometer equipped with both a long-period three-axes Very Broad Band (VBB) instrument and a three-axes short-period (SP) instrument. These six sensors will cover a broad range of the seismic bandwidth, from 0.01 Hz to 50 Hz, with possible extension to longer periods. Data will be transmitted in the form of three continuous VBB components at 2 sample per second (sps), an estimation of the short period energy content from the SP at 1 sps and a continuous compound VBB/SP vertical axis at 10 sps. The continuous streams will be augmented by requested event data with sample rates from 20 to 100 sps. SEIS will improve upon the existing resolution of Viking’s Mars seismic monitoring by a factor of ∼2500 at 1 Hz and ∼200000 at 0.1 Hz. An additional major improvement is that, contrary to Viking, the seismometers will be deployed via a robotic arm directly onto Mars’ surface and will be protected against temperature and wind by highly efficient thermal and wind shielding. Based on existing knowledge of Mars, it is reasonable to infer a moment magnitude detection threshold of ∼3 at 40∘ epicentral distance and a potential to detect several tens of quakes and about five impacts per year. In this paper, we first describe the science goals of the experiment and the rationale used to define its requirements. We then provide a detailed description of the hardware, from the sensors to the deployment system and associated performance, including transfer functions of the seismic sensors and temperature sensors. We conclude by describing the experiment ground segment, including data processing services, outreach and education networks and provide a description of the format to be used for future data distribution