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A composer died in 2021, but a lab-grown version of his brain is still making new 'music'

Are the haunting tones proof of consciousness after death, or just a beautiful sentiment?

Guy Ben-Ary/YouTube & By Non Event - Alvin Lucier, CC BY-SA 2.0

Alvin Lucier''s "brain" is still composing music 3 years after his death.

I love the gag from Futurama where, when people die, their heads and brains are kept alive in a jar, allowed to carry on forever. Their body may have failed, but in a sense they can live on and on and on (as long as someone's there to lug them around). It's a fascinating idea, and one that's definitely being explored in various ways here in the real world.

For example, did you know that you can upload photos, videos, and audio clips of a deceased loved one and create an incredibly lifelike AI version of them? This may or may not be considered a good thing depending on how you view it, and though it's not true consciousness per se, it can be a frighteningly accurate blurring of the lines. Furthermore, some scientists insist that consciousness does not exist solely in the brain, and that one day we may be able to harness it when the living organs of the body have died. Heavy stuff!


futurama, brain, consciousness, immortality, longevity, scienceMaybe one day our heads will be able to live on in a jar!Giphy

A composer who passed away several years ago was also fascinated by the idea of his consciousness and art living on without him. So he devised a bizarre experiment.

The musician, composer Alvin Lucier, was not content to only make music for the duration of his natural lifetime. So he recruited a team from Harvard Medical School to harvest his stem cells after he passed away

From there, the stem cells were used to grow something resembling a clump of human brain matter. It's not a fully functioning brain, not even close, but it is living tissue derived from the DNA of the late musician. The experiment, then, was to determine just how much of Lucier really existed in this sample.

alvin lucier, composer, musician, music, orchestra, science, brain, immortality, deathAlvin Lucier passed away in 2021 at the age of 90By Non Event - Alvin Lucier, CC BY-SA 2.0

"The central question we want people to ask is: could there be a filament of memory that persists through this biological transformation? Can Lucier's creative essence persist beyond his death?" the team said, per the Art Newspaper.

Neuroscientists and artists teamed up to create an installation — part art, part science — called "Revivification." They connected the "in-vitro brain" to electrodes that would then transmit the electrical impulses generation by the brain matter to twenty humongous brass plates hung around, thus creating music. Or, at least, tones.

You can see the art installation and the behind the scenes in this video. If you want to hear the haunting tones that seem to originate from beyond the grave, you can get a listen at about 3:53.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Not only does the "organoid" generate signals that become sound through the brass panels, it also responds to the environment around it. Sound from the art gallery is captured by a microphone and fed back to the little mini-brain, which affects its electrode activity.

That makes the sounds generated inside the experiment totally unique and dynamic. If Lucier really "composing" this music, in a sense? Not really, but the bizarre sounds are being generated, in part, by his genetic material. That makes Revivification an absolutely fascinating blend of art, science, and maybe even a little spiritualism.

Revivification is probably not proof of consciousness after death, and it doesn't claim to be. But it asks interesting questions about the nature of memory, and where our creativity or spirit or soul or whatever you want to call it is really stored.

Perhaps the most touching aspect of the story is Lucier's unwillingness to ever stop creating new art, even after his death at the age of 90. You'd think that would be enough years to fully satisfy his need for self-expression! But not so.

When Lucien's daughter was told about the project, she laughed and said, "This is so my dad. Just before he died he arranged for himself to play for ever. He just can't go. He needs to keep playing."

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Wil Wheaton gave a perfect explanation of how to separate problematic artists from their art

A truly thoughtful response.

Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons

Wil Wheaton speaking to an audience at 2019 Wondercon.

When you find out an actor whose work you enjoy is blatantly racist and anti-semitic in real life, does that realization ruin every movie they've been a part of?

What about an author who has expressed harmful opinions about a marginalized group? What about a smart, witty comedian who turns out to be a serial sexual assaulter? Where do you draw the line between a creator and their creation? As someone with his feet in both worlds, actor Wil Wheaton weighed in on that question and offered a refreshingly reasonable perspective.

"Question: I have more of an opinion question for you. When fans of things hear about misconduct happening on sets/behind-the-scenes are they allowed to still enjoy the thing? Or should it be boycotted completely? Example: I've been a major fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer since I was a teenager and it was currently airing. I really nerded out on it and when I lost my Dad at age 16 'The Body' episode had me in such cathartic tears. Now we know about Joss Whedon. I haven't rewatched a single episode since his behavior came to light. As a fan, do I respectfully have to just box that away? Is it disrespectful of the actors that went through it to knowingly keep watching?"

And Wheaton offered this response, which he shared :

" Answer: I have been precisely where you are, right now. In fact, we were just talking about this a few days ago, as it relates to a guy who wrote a ton of music that was PROFOUND to me when I was a teenager. He wrote about being lonely and feeling unloved, and all the things I was feeling as a teenager.

He grew up to be a reprehensible bigot, and for years I couldn't listen to one of the most important bands in my life anymore.

But this week, someone pointed out that he was one member of a group that all worked together to make that thing that was so important to me. And the person he was when he wrote those lyrics is not the person he is today. And the person I was when I heard those lyrics doesn't deserve to be shoved into a box and put away, because that guy is a shit.

This is a long way of saying that Joss sure turned out to be garbage. Because of who my friends are, I know stuff that isn't in the public, and it's pretty horrible. He's just not a good person, and apparently never was a good person.

BUT! Buffy is more than him. It's all the actors and crew who made it. It's all the writers who aren't Joss. Joss is part of it, sure, and some of the episodes he wrote are terrific.

At least one of the episodes he wrote was deeply meaningful to you at a moment in your life when you'd experienced a loss I can only imagine. The person you are now, and the 16 year-old you were who just lost their dad, are more important than the piece of shit Joss Whedon revealed himself to be.

His bad behavior is on him. He has to live with it, and the consequences of it.


Wil Wheaton | Wil Wheaton speaking at the 2012 Phoenix Comic… | Flickrwww.flickr.com

16-year-old you, who just lost their dad, shouldn't have to think about what a shit Joss Whedon is for even a second. That kid, and you, deserve to have that place to revisit when you need to go there.

I can't speak for the other actors, even the ones I know. But I will tell you, as an abuse survivor myself who never wanted to be in front of the camera when he was a kid: it's really okay for you to enjoy the work. The work is good and meaningful, and if nobody is going to watch it because of what one piece of shit did two decades ago, what was it all for?

I'm not the pope of chilitown, so take this for what it's worth: I believe that when some piece of art is deeply meaningful to a person, for whatever reason, that art doesn't belong to the person who created it, if it ever did. It belongs to the person who found something meaningful in the art.

If it feels right to you to put it away and never look at it again, that's totally valid. But if it brings you comfort, or joy, or healing, or just warm familiarity to bring it out and spend some time with it, that's totally valid, too.

I've written a lot of words. I hope some of them make sense and are helpful to you."

upload.wikimedia.org



As with practically everything in this world, the question of whether art can or should be separated from the artist is complex. It involves philosophical questions about the nature of art—where it comes from and who it belongs to—as well as questions about how imperfect a person has to be for us to reject everything they create. Wheaton's response feels right, especially when we're regarding art that is collaboratively created.

This article originally appeared three years ago.

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Artist uses trash to make absurdist sculptures that become lifelike animals from one angle

This is absolutely mind-blowing—and perspective-shifting.

Courtesy of Tom Deininger/Instagram

This is the exact same sculpture, just viewed from different angles.

They say one man's trash is another man's treasure, but happens when whole lot of people's trash becomes one man's art? In the case of Tom Deininger's sculptures, you not only get a miraculous viewing experience but also an opportunity to reflect on the natural world and the impact of human overconsumption.

If you look at one of Deininger's sculptures head on, you might see a beautiful cardinal, a lifelike trout, or an unblinking owl staring straight at you. But as you move to one side or another, the illusion quickly disappears, morphing into an increasingly random-looking 3-D conglomeration of toys, action figures, straws, plastic mesh and other discarded human waste that can't possibly be what's forming that realistic animal. Keep walking around it, and you'll eventually come back to your original perspective, but with a whole new appreciation for the stunning creature before you—and the artist who created it.

Check it out:

@theartrevival

Trash Art by Thomas Deininger #thomasdeininger #contemporaryart #textileart

What an artist expresses in their art isn't always what an observer takes away from it—that's part of the fun of art—but sometimes a medium and a message mesh so well that the effect is profound and palpable. Deininger's creations are part beauty and part statement, as the best art tends to be, and the statement in these sculptures is clear: We're throwing away a whole lot of plastic junk that can't break down and it's impacting the natural world.

The Rhode Island-based artist told Yahoo! News that he got the idea for creating sculptures out of trash when he saw plastic waste washing ashore on a trip to the South Pacific. He said the act of making his art helps quell some of the "gut sickness" he feels when he observes the destruction of the environment.

“I don’t think we’re alarmed enough," he said. "Everyone's not alarmed enough, enough of the time, is my fear. We should all be petrified and willing to do whatever it takes,”

- YouTubeyoutu.be

But there's even more behind Deininger's sculptures. After all, he could just make a realistic animal from all angles and call it a day. There's a purpose to making them abstract from all angles but one.

"The goal is to make an interesting, completely abstract sculpture that also contains provocative, subversive, or humorous elements (by manipulation of the various action figures) that from one very particular vantage point resolves into a convincing image of a creature," he told Jejune magazine. "The whole thing is really a meditation on perspective and illusion and the fragility of our world view in any given emotional state. The practice is also about order in chaos."

"Ideally the viewer falls for the 'trick' then as the illusion falls apart and they become disoriented for a few seconds that inspires curiosity, wonder or harmless vulnerability," he added. "This would then give way to a kind of repulsion or soft despair when one considers the implications of the materials… this could then be broken by a little comic relief, social narrative or nostalgia smashing. So in short, a range of emotions. Some good some not so good, but perhaps necessary."

“There is a confidence that we understand our world,” he told the Provincetown Independent, but he wants that confidence to turn to unease as viewers experience the full perspective of the sculpture. “What we thought we knew comes apart.”

People often ask Deininger if his sculptures are for sale. According to Yahoo! News, they are, if you have $12,000 to $50,000 to spend. Honestly, with the amount of time it must take to create one of these pieces and seeing how much other art pieces go for, that doesn't seem outrageous.

Oh, and it's not just animals that Deininger creates out of trash. Check out this masterpiece of another masterpiece:

@tomdeininger

I faithfully analyzed every stroke of paint and found a plastic equivalent. The honor was all mine. #vincentvangogh #tiktokart #abstractart #fyp

Absolutely unbelievable. You can follow Tom Deininger on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

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Photographer captures water droplets—'liquid sculptures'—that look like they're alive

Absolutely breathtaking.

Ronny Tertnes/Facebook

Ronny Tertnes' "liquid sculptures" are otherworldly.

Human beings have sculpted artwork out of all kinds of materials throughout history, from clay to concrete to bronze. Some sculpt with water in the form of ice, but what if you could create sculptures with small drops of liquid?

Norwegian artist Ronny Tertnes does just that. His "liquid sculptures" look like something from another planet or another dimension, while at the same time are entirely recognizable as water droplets.

I mean, check this out:


According to SLR Lounge, Tertnes uses ultra high-speed photography, flash rigs, smoke and different types of liquids to create and capture his colorful split-second sculptures. He mixes water with various substances to create texture, color and movement in his photos, and the effect is otherworldly. He does some editing in Photoshop as well. The form in his photographs comes from the unique movement of a single droplet, which can end up looking like a human, a flower, an alien or an abstract glass sculpture. Sometimes they look like people dancing. Just incredible.

Tertnes has shared many of his photos on Facebook and on his website, where you can purchase prints, calendars and more featuring these beauties:

It's fun to ask what other people see when they look at these images.

Amazingly enough, Tertnes has described himself as a "hobby photographer."

Sometimes he creates mirror images that end up looking like animals or alien creatures.

If you're into (or have a marginal understanding of and interest in) NFTs, Tertnes has a Liquid Sculptures NFT store as well.

And finally, here's a slideshow where you can hear him play the guitar and look at his beautiful liquid sculptures. Enjoy.

This article originally appeared on 1.14.22

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