C8H11NO2
Four-channel-composition / Soundinstallation / Electroacoustic performance (2011-13)
CLICK: Audiosample
The composition "C8H11NO2" is an experimental set-up examining cognition and the study of perception.
In the rapidly evolving field of neuroscience, the neurotransmitter dopamine, or C8H11NO2, has been
associated with the emotional processing of music and sound in the human brain. But where do sound and
its conscious processing start? In his laboratory in Montreal, Etienne de Villers-Sidani works on
influencing the activity of neurons in the auditory cortex employing different stimuli. While white
noise slows down neuronal activity; pure notes, in a random but structured pattern, lead to cortical
plasticity. Leibniz' "Philosophy of Mind" distinguishes between reception, perception and apperception.
Reception is understood as being the passive detection of stimuli through physiological receptors,
perception as being the intake of impressions or stimuli without cognitive processing and apperception
as being the consciousness, or the reflective knowledge of his internal state. Designed as an investigation,
"C8H11NO2" juxtaposes daily unintentional background noises with immanent oscillations such as the
Schumann resonances and the sound of a Pulsar. The rhythm of dripping water faces droning white noise
in the process of localizing the threshold of apperception. A perspective on (neuro)science.
Concert, L'Atelier, Berlin (2013)