What is 'Ganzfeld'?

The Ganzfeld effect is similar to sensory deprivation - instead of completely blocking out sensory input, one is exposed to highly unstructured stimuli instead. This causes the brain to generate neural noise patterns in an attempt to make sense of the otherwise empty information. Since our brains are designed to find patterns, it can start to make things up when there's no real pattern to find. The Ganzfeld effect frequently causes hallucinations and an altered state of mind and has considerable documentation in case studies and experimentation.

Examples in the world

Historically, Pythagorean followers would stay in dark caves for long stretches of time in order to recieve divine visions.

Instructables offers a tutorial on how to quickly experience the Ganzfeld effect for yourself.

There are often reports of arctic scientists and explorers experiencing the Ganzfeld effect during snowstorms. The image below suggests the sort of conditions that might create the effect.

116698883 snowstorm wrangel island wild russia arctic snowfall.thumb

The majority of reported experiences come from unscientific home experiments and parapsychology research into ESP, but the effect is well documented and explained scientifically.

Examples in Media/Art

By far, Turrell is the most well known artist to use the Ganzfeld effect. His series of works, shown both in the cover photo and attached images, provide a colorful version of the effect.

He, fellow artist Robert Irwin, and psychologist Ed Wortz did considerable research into manipulating this effect for art. (x)

Irwin also experimented with the Ganzfeld effect independently.

Turrell uses color and light dramatically, in an intensely immersive way, while Irwin prefers a subtler approach. Turrell has also pushed the boundaries further with his "Perceptual Cell" installations, which have often been regarded as deeply personal, bordering on uncomfortable, experiences. See this description of the experience to get an idea of what people mean.

James Turrell

James Turrell

Scrim veil—Black rectangle—Natural light, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Robert Irwin (1977) - http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/RobertIrwin

Excursus: Homage to the Square3

Robert Irwin (1993)

Reflection

The Ganzfeld effect seems to pique interest in the psychic, which I was unaware of at the start of this project. It also seems that this effect might also be leveraged for the uncomfortable, rather than simply the beautiful/interesting to experience.

I think I would love to explore the use of this effect in VR, though that might be beyond the scope of the course. On a smaller scale, I might be able to fake the immersion through full screen images.

Bonus:

Drake is using this effect better than anyone in the world.

1 comment · Latest by Janine Louie

I thought your project was really interesting. I really like how you used articles to enhance the amount of information given and the examples you chose were great. The one comment I have is that the documentation was slightly confusing the first time I read it. It was probably because I was slightly skimming, but after the first read-through I didn't understand what the illusion was and I didn't understand how exactly the pieces of art that you used as examples created this illusion. I think its because since you're talking about an illusion that occurs only when your senses are deprived and I'm looking at pictures of people experiencing it, I can't tell what the illusion is. I think what might help is to use more varied examples and to go into more depth about what people experience. The piece where you feel like you're in a kaleidoscope would be good to talk about and with the article I think it would have added to your project. Also, this is slightly tangent but would you happen to know if mirages in dessert are also because of this effect or does this effect not create illusions at that scale?

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MediaSynth 3.1 - Ignis fatuus

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Explore the ways that the 'ganzfeld' effect is experienced through media.

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