The Interface Is the (Art)Work: EEG-Feedback, Circuited Selves and the Rise of Real-Time Brainmedia (1964–1977)

Abstract

This chapter examines the rise of EEG-feedback research in the period between 1964 and 1977, the time between the first EEG-feedback setup that gained public attention and the subsequent waning of the explosive enthusiasm for EEG-feedback in the late 1970s. Studying both artistic and scientific experiments of EEG-feedback during this period, the chapter traces the emergence of a new direction within this subdomain of EEG-research---beyond an interest in the meaning of measured brain wave states, towards the significance of the design of brain-feedback situations that perform and emphasize the relationality and mutability of brain activity. By examining research cultures and practices of EEG-feedback, the chapter traces conditions of possibility for a shifting epistemological commitment, revolving around the idea that `the interface is the work.' Research cultures of EEG feedback were impacted by both artistic and scientific experiments with media environments and the idea of a `circuited self'. In turn, artists and researchers were actively engaged with the public manifestation of EEG-feedback in popular news reports and television broadcasts, which created a particular sphere of resonance for the emphasis on playful and spectacular demonstrations of circuits. When computing was introduced in EEG-feedback after 1970, it brought notions of `on-line' and `real-time' into the circuit. These developments were not only understood as technological advancement through faster feedback, but they also brought an emphasis on the social potential of computing: self-insight, augmenting the self and connecting with others. The chapter ends with a reflection on the resonance of histories of performance and design-oriented approaches in neuroscientific research today.