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 also be livestreamed. Tune in to https://live.grayarea.org/ 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
Kal Spelletich is an American contemporary artist, anarchist, and pioneer of San Francisco’s machine art scene. For over three decades, he has hand-built complex, interactive robotic sculptures and kinetic installations designed to explore the boundaries between humans and technology.
Anastasia Chernysheva
I’m a scholar and curator exploring topics of experimental music and biofeedback art. As a scholar, I 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, I produced many events —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 2024, I founded the Biofeedback Art|Research Network — an international community of artists, researchers, and scholars dedicated to exploring work related to biofeedback. Within about a year of the Network's existence, I organized seven events featuring its members, including symposia, screenings, performances, and workshops at the Lois Lambert Gallery (Los Angeles), Indexical (Santa Cruz), and Gray Area (San Francisco). Currently, I’m a Visiting Researcher at the UCLA Music Industry Program and a Research Fellow at Gray Area.
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