This weekend I learned about sensory deprivation tanks as a tool for relaxation or mediation. Subjects float in complete silence and darkness in an enclosed tank of salt water that is the same temperature as their bodies - cutting off all stimuli. Think the dead sea meets the womb. The idea is to create a state of purity and see where the minds goes. Perhaps to sleep? Perhaps to a dream? Or to complete emptiness.
Contrast that with the beautiful multi-sensory use of material and space done by Ernesto Neto at his sprawling installation titled Crazy Hyperculture in the Vertigo of the World. The maze-like structure is at the new Faena Arts Center in Argentina. Think Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets a play gym for adults. Or, better yet, a dream world meets movement and feeling.
Ernesto encourages his "experiencers" to use all of their senses as they ascend deeper into the installation. There are balls in those nets, so you can crawl through and feel the sculpture. I love the use of all the senses. I wonder how the net feels under the feet? Stable? Do you feel the movement of other "experiencers"? Apparently, at the NY version of the sculpture you could smell different scents and smells.
I don't about all of you, but I am a sensory Diva for sure. I enjoy crisp days with beautiful backdrops, delicious flavors, scents, and people. So I'll take the netted maze over a saline tank any day.
(pictures by wallpaper magazine)
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