Look, Ma – No Hands!
The Early Days of Biofeedback Art
Spanning the 1960s to 90s, this retrospective showcases the remarkable fusion of technology, art, and human physiology and closes with a live demo by Kal Spelletich, inviting attendees to play a drum machine using their heartbeats.
Look, Ma – No Hands!: The Early Days of Biofeedback Art
Friday, June 20, 2025
Doors: 6:30PM
All Ages
Seated screening
This event will be livestreamed. A livestream link will be emailed to ticket holders on the day of the event.
View our FAQ page for more info, or contact us at [email protected] with any accommodation requests.
About the Event
Screening of Historical Footage (1960-1990s) and A Demo with Heartbeat-controlled Drum Machine
The biofeedback film & video screening offers a unique insight into the intersection of technology, art, and human physiology during this pivotal period in history. Through biofeedback, artists could tap into the body's physiological responses, such as heart rate and brain activity, to create immersive and participatory aesthetic experiences. By showcasing a collection of works from the 1960s to the 1990s, this retrospective provides a comprehensive look at how technological advancements led to a diversification of artistic applications of biofeedback and the emergence of new “hybrid” art-science practices. The material presented in this screening includes works of Alvin Lucier, Nina Sobell, Bill and Lois Etra, Richard Lowenberg, and other pioneers of biomusic and video art, also highlighting the contribution of the Bay Area artists and engineers in early biofeedback art and development of human-computer music interfaces.
The screening will be accompanied by a demo presented by Kal Spelletich, inviting two volunteers in attendance to “play” a drum machine with the beat of their heart.
Speakers
Kal Spelletich
Born and raised in Iowa, the seventh of nine children. He has degrees from the University of Iowa, and an M.F.A. from The University of Texas at Austin in Media Art. He has performed, exhibited and lectured worldwide, collaborating with scientists, musicians, and politicians. The work raises open-ended questions about the dominant economic producers of technology, the role of the collective in capitalism and economic and educational privilege. He is an anarchist, activist, guerrilla gardener and educator investigating how to see these times we live in and developing the means to create a different world.
Spelletich has exhibited the past 43 years at De Young Museum, SFMOMA, The Exploratorium Museum and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, California Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA, Oakland Museum of California, Headlands Center for the Arts, Deitch Projects, NYC, The Catharine Clark and Anglim Trimble Galleries, Punk Clubs and underground artist spaces all over the world.
Internationally, at Ars Electronica, Austria, ZKM, Karlsruhe Germany, Tacheles and Eschschloraque, Rümschrümp, Berlin, Robodock, Amsterdam, Paris, Namibia, India, Den Haag, Switzerland, Germany, Croatia, France, Czech Republic, Holland, England, Slovakia and Spain to name a few.
Anastasia Chernysheva
Anastasia Chernysheva is a scholar and curator exploring topics of experimental music and biofeedback art. Recently, Anastasia gave invited lectures at the UCLA Department of Art (Art|Sci Center), UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, and presented at the NIME2024 Colloquium. As a curator, she produced event series —ranging from music performances to science talks— at the University of Illinois, Santa Monica College, and Bergamot Station Art Center that were supported through grants from the Center for Advanced Study (CAS) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Santa Monica Cultural Affairs. In October 2024 she started Biofeedback Art|Research Network — an international community of artists, researchers, and scholars pursuing work pertaining to biofeedback. Currently, Anastasia is a Visiting Researcher at UCLA Music Industry Program and a Research Fellow at Gray Area, where she continues to work on cultural initiatives, and investigate and write about the topic of her passion.
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