Pink Floyd's 'The Great Gig in the Sky' will be at the heart of a new immersive exhibition.
'Brainstorms: A Great Gig in the Sky' will take over Frameless in London on Friday and Saturday evenings in June, which brings to life the results of a research project from Brainstorms, a joint venture between San Francisco-based creative studio Pollen Music Group and Richard Wright Music Limited. It brings to life the results of the Brainstorms research project that took place last autumn.
The experience is themed around the concept behind the group's iconic track, with visitors seeing sky-themed creative visualisations of the human brain’s response to music in each of the four galleries, in order to visually show how people respond to music and enhancing the listening experience.
To create the visuals, 125 people had their brain activity recorded while listening to the 'Dark Side of the Moon' track in immersive sound Dolby Atmos. The EEG readings of brain activity, which will be showcased within the experience, were captured at Dolby by the neuroscience experts within the Pollen Music Group team and reflect the participant’s excitement, interest, relaxation and stress felt whilst listening to the track.
Gala Wright, curator and Artistic director at Brainstorms and daughter of Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright, says, “The visual representation of brain data provides an accessible and intuitive way to see how a piece of music can be a deeply personal yet also powerfully shared experience. Questioning how this is true for my father’s compositions is a key motivation for me bringing this concept to life with Pollen. The added benefit of bringing awareness to his musicality through the Brainstorms project serves to augment his legacy.”
Musician Imogen Heap and her nine-year-old daughter took part in the initial brain data capture and their brainwaves will be visualised in the ‘Murmurations’ Gallery, set to her ambient track 'Cumulus' in surround sound.
A limited number of VIP places will be available to book a unique 15-minute EEG brain capture experience where they will feel more from the music than ever before as they go on an intense and emotional journey as they listen to five minutes of ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ in immersive sound Dolby Atmos via headphones.
Participants will then be able to see their brain activity visualised into stunning large-scale cloud formations, projected into Frameless’ re-imagined ‘Cloud’ Gallery. Each participant will also receive a personalised memento based on their individual brain’s reaction to the piece.
