“Seeing yourself see” is how James Turrell describes the experience of his Ganzfeld pieces. In the diffuse field of light that is his installation Ganzfeld “Aural” – on show at the Jewish Museum Berlin until 6 October 2019 – the boundaries of space disappear, a sense of disorientation unfolds and at the same time a peculiar floating feeling.
Turrell’s works have their origins in the Art & Technology program of the University of California and the Los Angeles County Museum, where artists and scientists have explored the Ganzfeld theme in the context of further developing space travel.
Past event
Where
Old Building, level 2, Great Hall
Lindenstraße 9–14, 10969 Berlin
What are the scientific findings behind the Ganzfeld effect? On this interdisciplinary evening, Ernst Pöppel, former director of the Institute for Medical Psychology at the LMU Munich, will explain the physiological and psychological principles of perception effects; Margarete Pratschke, guest professor for art and visual history of modernity and the present, HU Berlin, will provide insight into the Art & Technology program and places Turrell’s works and light art in the historico-scientific context of their origins.
With an introduction to the installation Ganzfeld “Aural” at the Jewish Museum Berlin by Gregor H. Lersch, head of temporary exhibitions.
The Speakers
Margarete Pratschke is an art and image historian and researches the history of images in science and technology as well as the visual culture of the digital present. After completing her doctorate at the HU Berlin, she worked as a postdoc at ETH Zurich and at eikones in Basel. She has been at the Institute for Art and Visual History at the HU since 2017, currently as guest professor for art and visual history of modernity and the present. In 2016, she was awarded the Caroline von Humboldt Prize for her research on the Ganzfeld experiments at the Berlin City Palace.
Margarete Pratschke, photo: Alfred Steffen.
Professor emeritus Ernst Pöppel studied psychology and biology in Freiburg and Innsbruck. At Max Planck Institutes and MIT in Cambridge (USA), he researched visual perception and time experience, and at the LMU Munich he headed the Institute for Medical Psychology and the Human Science Center. He has been a guest professor at Peking University for many years, and he has colleagues from over 40 countries. “Scientists are Natural Ambassadors” is his work motto.
A cooperation with the Ernst Schering Foundation
Ernst Pöppel, photo: private
A cooperation with the
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