:: flotspotpro::

documention CUBE2 :: 5.19 - 6.4

website Crosswalk article

Flicker Occasioned Trance Spot: Pro Edition

The human flicker fusion threshold is gauged at 16 Hertz (cycles per second): The observer can visually perceive the pulsation of light occurring 16 times per second or less. Carefully observed light flicker encourages human brainwave (hz) synchronization rates for Deep Relaxation (Alpha 8-13 hz), Semi-consciousness (Theta 4-7 hz), and Deep Unconsciousness (Delta .5-3.5 hz).

FLOTSPOTPro asks participants to modify tungsten light sources in public locations in order to create a flicker effect, occasioning an opportunity for individual or group trance states. FLOTSPOTPro enables individuals to create the sites for their own trance experiences while inviting others to engage in singular or group semi-conscious mental states. It is hoped that the increased availability of flicker locations will encourage the viability and productivity of collective trance states.

FLOTSPOTPro re-forms the notion of productivity. We are decididly not concerned with efficiency, economy, or use. We do not want to contribute to progress, as it’s commonly understood. We know that to truly move forward we must first move upward. By elevating our mind/bodies from petty individualistic concerns towards the synchronization of our collective brainwaves we travel up from the base and into the exquisite. What of goals? We are not interested in goals. We are interested in states of being, in collective social spaces, in collective consciousness. We re-purpose the ideals of 20th century remote connectivity, to a 21st century connectivity effected through collective altered mental states. We know that this leads to compassion, as synchronized neurons re-form the status quo through affinity and empathy.

about the artist

Laurel Beckman is currently Assistant Professor of Art in Integrated 2D Digital Media at the University of California Santa Barbara. She has brought FLOTSPOT to New Yorkers at Glowlab’s Psy-Geo Conflux last year. You can email her with your FLOTSPOT experiences at beckman@arts.ucsb.edu.