Biofeedback and the Arts: Results of Early Experiments ed. by David Rosenboom (review)

254 Books (with three sub-sections: ( I ) Dada, (2) John Heartfield and (3) Propaganda. Publicity and Constructivism; followed by Metropolis: The Vision of the Future; The Marvellous and the Ordinary; and Photomontage and Non-Objective Art. There are also documentary illustrations and commentaries and an annotated list of illustrations. I find that the book has a number of merits and a couple of demerits. In its favor is the fact that a serious book on photomontage can be had at such a low price. But there is another side to this very scholarly text. It perforce almost condenses too much which places it fairly quickly in the reference category rather than in the reading and contemplation one. The text is clear and concise. The feelingI had on reading the text was that it may have been a sort of syllabus for a course or series of lectures. Each word counts. but, at the end. unless one already has a background on the subject,one tends to retain little because the style is very dry indeed. Art historians who write on photography tend to do this. The period and the artists covered were latent with upheaval and ideas, heavy with intrigue. Littleof this comes through in the text. Furthermore. layout seems to me rather stodgy. and this is all the more ironical in a book dealing with such a graphic subject. The Documentary Illustrations and Commentaries section is carried along a little better because the commentaries are there to do so.,There is little note taken of photomontages in relation to humour and to the use of color. In many cases color. is of vital importance. and I am fairly certain that not all the photomontages, even of the period covered. were in black and white as reproduced. The book is a very useful referencework, but it will not awaken enthusiasm for either the subject of for those who made the works covered. I recommend it to professional artists and students who are hard pressed for time. Biofeedback and the Arts: Results of Early Experiments. David Rosenboom. ed. A.R.C. Publications, Vancouver, Canada. 1976. 162 pp.. illus. Reviewed by Robert Baldwin* The special interest in blending art and technology that began in the U.S.A. in the 1950’s included a popularization of the existence and of the patterns of alpha brain waves under the term hiofeedback. Rosenboom takes a penetrating look at the early experimenters in biofeedback who not only speculated on the possibilities of new artistic systems for the public. but who also introduced a certain social idealism of the time into their writings. I found his descriptions of early experiments and of his biofeedback techniques fascinating. While one may question the results obtained in the domain of art, one should not deprecate the efforts made. I reported on my art work with alpha brain waves in Lcwiurclo5, 147(1972) [cf.also Kinetic Art: Theory and Practice. F. J. Malina. ed. (New York: Dover, 1974, p. Il9)]. Much of Rosenboom’s book is devoted to descriptions of his own artistic research. but he also includescontributions by other artists. which, at times, are difficult for nonspecialists to understand but which wtll be helpful to artist/scientists interested in biofeedback. Many of the early pieces of music (particularly Richard Teitelbaum’s ’In Tune’ performed in 1969) I believe must have strongly affected audiences. Although Rosenboom and many of his friends, as muscians. are concerned with the application of biofeedback to music. he weaves into his book many ideas about how it might be possible to use biofeedback ‘to get into tune with oneself and with others’. Rosenboom provides information on the design of low-cost biofeedback equipment, which is especially important for those of us who cannot find financial support for work with such equipment. He also includes a useful bibliography on scientific biofeedback research and on attempts to use biofeedback in the arts. In the second part of the book. he concerns himself with musical compositions. some of which were publicly performed. Discussions of his own works predominate. He and some of the others concerned with the application of biofeedback to art *P.O. Box 333. Albuquerque. N...