 London-based
performance artist Ansuman Biswas returns to San Francisco to
enact the second part of his trilogy of works, Self/Portrait,
again exploring the relationship between western science and
eastern philosophy. For the first part of the trilogy Ansuman
presented CAT,
his last performance at The LAB, where he spent ten days sealed
in a soundproof, lightproof black box with nothing but a supply
of drinking water. This was intended as a re-examination, in
the light of quantum physics and vipassana meditation, of the
paradox of Schroedinger's Cat. The final part of the trilogy,
Array, will be an Earth size sculpture prompted by issues
in terrestrial ecology and the search for extra-terrestrial
intelligence.
Now, Ansuman
returns to San Francisco to present Self/Portrait,
which is a durational art work prompted by recent research
into the relationship between emotions and physiological states.
In this performance Ansuman harnesses the pulsating energy
of the heart to paint and compose. Small electrodes on the
artist's skin will sense the internal electrical weather of
his body and feed it into a computer. The external view of
the artist will also be fed into the computer via a video
camera. These internal and external views will then be mingled
and projected onto the wall in front of the performer. Through
various contemplative practices Ansuman will cultivate particular
states of mind and thus modulate the video portrait of himself.
Ansuman will conduct a special closing ceremony on the final
evening involving a musical performance and including, as
one of his instruments, an ECG device.
The
Gateway Project: London to San Francisco is part of a
continuing project that facilitates an open-ended and process-based
exchange and presentation of collaborative work by artists
residing in San Francisco and London and working at the conceptual
frontier of the new millennial culture. Read
more about it.
 
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