"The Musical Ape III / Piece for Animals / Brain Mythology"

video montage, VHS, 8:14 min (loop)

The experimenter (myself) and the ape are seated at a table, divided by a curtain, facing the camera. One light bulb is installed in front of each actor, lighting up in certain rhythms. Reactions from both the experimenter and the ape are recorded by EEG or a magnet field scanner, respectively. The actors are connected via diodes to a magnet field transformer, a brainwave amplifier and a computer. In this manner, I aim to establish a set of information prototypes that generate a preliminary image of a structure of experience and form the basis for the first musical prototypes. The frequency patterns of these M prototypes are converted into sound sequences, which are subsequently played to the actors. These continuous feedback procedures result in a new reaction image, etc., which is then used to establish a first ape composition. The same procedure is applied to information units produced by the dogs and pigs, who are also members of the orchestra. A special monitor is installed for each species. The ape and the experimenter are the main protagonists of the performance, the dogs and the pigs are the accompanists, so to speak.
Through the exchange of brainwaves, the experimenter hopes to create, for himself and for the ape, an experience of a special perception – through the senses of a different species, as it were. He dedicates the resulting composition to the structure of living beings, which nonetheless remains confoundingly unfathomable to him.

​​​​(Rudolf Polansky, 2000)