The 6th
International Research Conference: Consciousness
Reframed: Qi and Complexity
Sponsored
by Planetary Collegium; School of Software,
Peking University; Central Academy of
Fine Arts; Central Conservatory of Music;
Beijing Normal University
25-27 November 2005; Beijing, China
Reviewed by Dene Grigar
Texas Womans University
dgrigar@twu.edu
The 6th International Research
Consciousness Reframed Conference: Qi
and Complexity convened from November
25-27, 2004 in Beijing, China. An annual
conference generating from the Planetary
Collegium (University of Plymouth, UK),
it was co-sponsored this year by the School
of Software of Peking University; the
Central Academy of Fine Arts; the Central
Conservatory of Music; and the Beijing
Normal University. It is important to
note that these many institutions were
brought together by many of their deans
and program chairs, but the event was
largely organized and run by Drs. Roy
Ascott, Director of the Planetary Collegium,
and Kenneth Fields, Peking University.
As in all Consciousness Reframed conferences,
artists, scholars, and scientists give
formal papers, performances, and/or demonstrations
on such wide-ranging subjects as robotics,
neuroscience, 3D animation, mythology
and spirituality, web interfaces, consciousness,
and game studies, to name just a few of
the many topics discussed. This year,
since it was held in Beijing, a location
Roy Ascott calls the "interface between
not only eastern and western culture .
. . [but] between ancient and progressive
knowledge" ("Introduction to Abstracts"),
the conference took on the special themes
of Qi and Complexity. While complexity
may be a familiar term to most readers,
Qi may be less so. Difficult to define
(a whole evening lecture was devoted to
explaining it), Qi was best encapsulated
by Chinese researcher Wengao Huang (Zhejiang
University) in his presentation, "How
Far Are Chinese Arts from Media Art?,"
as "the theory of circular causality,
which is at the essence of the universe
and abundant in life." That said, many
of the presentations were either wholly
devoted to it or touched on it in some
way.
While it is impossible to review all of
those presentations of merit, a few representative
of the exceptional quality one generally
finds at Consciousness Reframed conferences
should be mentioned. For example, Korean
artist Semi Ryus "Ritualizing Interactive
Media: From Motivation to Activation"
looked critically at the notion of interaction,
particularly at the blurred boundaries
between user and object in ritual, which
she argues our "desire" for is as ancient
as it is instinctive. Rituals goal,
she claimed, is to "overcome the separation
and become one" and in the process interactivity
undergoes a primary passage from the physical
to the spiritual.
In "Consciousness, Connectivity and Coherence:
A Biophotonic Perspective," Roy Ascott
argued that artists working in the 21st
Century may "become concerned with finding
ways to allow us to sense the invisible
in the visible." Citing the ideas of Werner
Heisenberg, Marcel Duchamp, Heinz von
Foerster, and Francisco Varela, he posited
that "reality is constructed, meaning
is negotiated worlds built through participation."
Atoms, neurons, and genes exemplify those
elements that were once invisible and
unknown but now accepted. From this point,
Ascott moved to the main focus of his
topic, biophotonic light, which represents
what Hans-Peter Durr calls "immaterial
connectedness." Ascott concluded with
the potential of vegetal and virtual reality
coming together to produce a new way of
seeing and knowing.
Two excellent readings edging close to
performances were given by Marcus Boon
(Canada; "Tickets that Exploded: Psychoactive
Drugs and Autopoesis") and Claudia
Westermann (Germany; "Greed. Love. Wisdom.
And Labeling the Self"). In the former,
Boon explored what he called "consciousness
and the phenomenology of intoxication"
specifically in the works of Henri Michaux
and William Burroughs. In the latter,
Westermann looked at the "processes by
which [we] . . . reach wisdom" arguing
that brains learn by stretching forth
in chaotic systems.
Scientists, such as Neil Greenberg, added
to the discourse between the arts and
science. His presentation, entitled "Truth
in the Brain: The Neuroethology of Belief,"
discussed "two general processes critical
to doubt and the veracity of belief" .
. . "used to determine truth: correspondence
and coherence." As he told the audience,
Truth "represents a high confidence in
our beliefs including a sense of self."
Likewise, John Dougherty, LeAnne Dougherty,
Mateja de Leonni Stanonik, and Charles
Licatas "Neurobiology of the Aware
Ego" gave a powerful presentation that
discussed the anterior cingulate cortex
(ACC) of the brain and its influence upon
Alzheimers Disease and hence its
relation to consciousness.
Two noteworthy projects were presented.
First, Tony Lewis-Brooks work described
in "Soundscapes: Multisensory Reciprocity
through Subliminal Non-Control" saw the
use of motion tracking technology for
"enhanc[ing] the senses" in "real-time
causal interaction" during rehabilitation
therapy. Chris Nelsons project,
discussed in "An Exploration of Bah: Spiritual
Experience in Virtual Reality," demonstrated
a virtual game environment that explored
the mystical treatise, The Seven Valleys,
key to the Bahai faith.
Lively debates followed those presentations
involving robots and consciousness. First,
Owen Hollands presentation, entitled
"Methods in Machine Consciousness: The
Need for a Synthetic Phenomenology," asked,
"What is machine consciousness?," and
laid out the problem involving the "assess[ment
of] the internal processes of the machine."
He ran aground quickly when he defined
art as "decorating," which, of course,
belies the complexity and required intellect
and sensibility for creating and understanding
it. That definition did not sit well with
the numerous artists in attendance. That
Holland came at art secondarily himself
can be understood since he is a scientist;
however, anywhere in his argument we could
have substituted science for art and come
up with the same conclusion about science
as he did for art. And finally, he argued
that consciousness has evolved from a
specific set of circumstances dependent
upon sexual and natural selection. Yet
the robot he described in his project
could not have benefited from these circumstances,
and still he talked about its consciousness.
Thus, it was not clear if he was arguing
that the robot would still develop consciousness,
or something else instead.
Just as lively was the discussion that
came from Shigeki Sugiyamas talk,
"Rainbow in Consciousness," which described
a sensory enriched robot. Like Holland,
Sugiyama wondered if such a creation has
consciousness or not. Arguing that "consciousness
exists in the brain, is raised in the
process of growing from baby to an adult,
becomes identifiable by itself as a quantity
of consciousness grows and expands, and
can exist in the brain without any stimulation
from the outer world," he arrived at the
conclusion that "consciousness itself
will not exist as a real entity physically,
but it [is] a phenomenon induced by the
neuron activities . . . like a rainbow
seen with Mist in the air and by reflected
sunshine." Questions arose about the place
for spirituality in such a model. One
does not need to wonder where the paranormal
belongs.
Accompanying the presentations was a media
arts exhibition held at the Red Gate Gallery
featuring works by Semi Ryu (KOR), Margarete
Jahrmann and Max Moswitzer (CH/AT), Victoria
Vesna, Norbert Herber, Margaret Dolinsky,
and Diana Gromola (USA), Rees Archibald
(UK), Katia Maciel (BR), Robert Lisek
(PL), and Stefania Serafin and Michel
Guglielmi (IT/ FR). Each of the three
days of conference was punctuated by special
events. On the first evening Ken Rose
gave his lecture on the nature of Qi.
The following evening saw a standout concert
of digital music featuring many of the
conference presenters as well as local
musicians from The China Electronic Music
Center. The final evening took the participants
to the Summer Palace, the place where
emperors once escaped the heat and noise
of the city, for a special dinner and
entertainment by musicians expert in traditional
Chinese instruments. That we ended the
conference in such a way belied the reality
Beijing presented: A city in the midst
of transition and hungry for the newseeming
so very far away from the concept of the
ancient tradition of Qi but just right
for a contemporary study of complexity.