Measuring the Magic Of Mutual Gaze

Join neuroscientist Dr. Suzanne Dikker to discuss how art and science can join forces and help us understand what, exactly, it means to be ‘on the same wavelength’ with another person. Dr. Dikker and her collaborators have developed a series of interactive neurofeedback installations as crowd-sourcing neuroscience experiments These including Compatibility Racer (with Lauren Silbert, Jennifer Silbert, Oliver Hess, and Matthias Oostrik), and Neuroscience Experiment I: Measuring the Magic of Mutual Gaze, with media artist Matthias Oostrik, performance artist Marina Abramović, and participants of the Watermill Art & Science: Insights into Consciousness Workshop (building on Abramović’ durational performance The Artist is Present (MoMA, 2010.)


As part of the evening's events two volunteers will be asked to sync up their brains, and the audience can monitor ‘how well’ they’re doing using a simple visual interface showing their brainwave synchrony.

Dr. Dikker is a cognitive neuroscience research scientist at NYU (Psychology) and is directing the concept creation of the Science Chamber of the Marina Abramovic Institute in Hudson, NY. Her interactive experiments have been exhibited at a number of venues, including the Garage Center for Contemporary Culture (Moscow) and the American Museum of Natural History. You can see more on her work here:

suzannedikker.net