Refik Anadol's Melting Memories Translates Brain Data into Kinetic Sculpture

Refik Anadol, a multimedia artist and researcher at UCLA's Department of Design Media Arts, concluded his solo exhibition Melting Memories at Pilevneli Gallery in Istanbul on March 10, 2018. Using an EEG headset and experiments at the Neuroscape Laboratory at the University of California, San Francisco, Anadol collected brain activity data, which he translated into algorithms that visualize memory formation. The exhibition featured a five-meter-tall LED wall and CNC-milled rigid foam sculptures displaying fluid, organic forms resembling waves, sand erosion, and blooming flowers. The works evoke comparisons to Frank Gehry's architecture and the programmed art of Gruppo T, particularly Davide Boriani. Anadol's practice reflects a growing trend in contemporary art that merges neuroscience with visual experimentation, as seen in the work of Italian artist Matteo Nasini.