Svend Sømod

Work for Live Art Danmark
2022: “8 Hz: Brainwave Manipulation”, Live Art for Børn and VR installation at Friisland.

8 Hz: Brainwave Manipulation
We invited by Danish visual artist Svend Sømod to participate in two of our projects in 2022. He presented two different version of his VR-work “8Hz: Brainwave Manipulation”, which uses the VR-technology to simulate the state of the brain during deep meditation. To achieve this, the viewers brain is manipulated into taking on a state similar to that of REM sleep by exposing the eyes to a series of flashes with the frequency of 8 Hz.

First, we integrated Svend’s installation into the 2022 line up of our annual festival of Live Art for Children. Since playing around with brain waves is tricky business, he created a dedicated child friendly version for this occassion.

Later that year, Svend presented the full blown brain frequency altering version of the audio- and VR experience for grown ups only at our project space Friisland, with the addition of one of his light objects. Even though little movement appeared in the VR-image, users reported a host of interesting experiences after donning the VR glasses and letting their brains slide over into Svend’s universe. The artist claimed that some people instantaneously reach a state of deep meditation when using it. Among other occassions, the VR-experience was presented at our Friisland Live #6 event, where the experienced was accompanied by a special cocktail, created after a recipe by Svend’s infamous cocktail printer.

There are images from both version in the slideshow below:

About the Artist
Throughout his work with cocktail printers, music and now also Virtual Reality, Svend’s interest in the interaction between the senses, the universal validity of mathematics and the reality of the brain provides a connecting link.

Also chceck Svend’s website for additional information.