Installation, 2010
One barely notices the phase between sleep and wakefulness.
Experiences of the last dream may still have an effect, bits of information, still lingering from the hours
before falling asleep, fade away.
For the installation sentient (being) a physiological rhythm measured during that phase is being
transferred onto an object, seemingly bringing it to life.
- Laura Skocek, 2010
Material and room concept in cooperation with Lena Schwentenwein
August, 5th- September, 25th 2010, 10am - 10pm,
Angewandte Showroom, MQ Vienna, Electric Avenue
Finissage: Sept. 23rd, 19h
sponsored by TU Graz E-Power Racing
Documentation:
Thanks to: Robert Brenn, Wolfgang Fiel, Christoph Gruber, Hedy Howe, Lydia Lindner, Christian Löw, Lukas Raschendorfer, Laura Russo, Ruth Schnell, Veronika Schnell, Senf TV, Robert Skocek, Doris Skocek, Verena Skocek and many more
In our society
the sleep and wake rhythm is to a large extent influenced by
work schedules.
People should go to bed at a certain time, the period spent asleep should be
held on a quiet place at night.
Sleep research is concentrated on the biological act of sleeping. Different sleep states and the physiological activities, even the exact moment where you fall
asleep can be identified in the EEG data.
Ethnographic records conducted by Carol M. Worthman tap sleep behavior in different cultures:
There are mentions of hunter-gatherer societies whose members drift away during the day and apparantly lack a regulated sleep rhythm. Rites of initiation, held at night, self-induced states between sleep and wakefulness, in order to conjure visions, have been cited. (Carol M. Worthman, Melissa K. Melby; Toward a Comparative Developmental Ecology of Human Sleep, 2006)
While developing my work I researched my own sleep practices and kept records of the transition between being asleep and awake. Experienes during a half-aware state, images and bits of information that I discovered, where the inspiration for the object „Sleeping Bed“. The rhythm of falling asleep and drifting back again, measured during a session in a sleep lab, is controlling the movements of the kinetic sculpture.
Thanks to:
Virgil Widrich, Ruth Schnell
Philipp Tiefenbacher, Lukas Raschendorfer (technical support)
Dr. Bernd Kräftner, Dr. Martin Graf, SMZ Ost Wien(research support, sleep lab)
Veronika Schnell (text, beta-reading)
my parents, my boyfriend