Alpha Wave Experience Headed by Dan Ghenacia: An Experimental Music Machine

Taking over one room of the Oxo Tower for the Cluster book launch, the Alpha Wave Experience is to be experimented with the eyes closed. Light projections against the closed lids put the audience into a meditative, relaxed state and the journey through the experience is guided by music. The sounds merge with the colours created by the brain and everyone’s experience is entirely unique.

The Alpha Wave supports Cluster Craft’s vision for the future experience of craft and design. Using digital tools, it is possible to add depth and texture to the artist encounters that do not rely on traditional exhibition formats. The Cluster book – Soil, Surface, Sky – allows the reader to browse the exquisite work of our exhibitors on printed pages, but also provides three dimensional renders of the work, accessed by unique QR codes. The creation of Alpha Wave Experience was prompted by the experience of personal isolation during the 2020 lockdowns. As someone used to working in crowded venues, Ghenacia found the dramatic changes in permitted socialising put in place because of COVID-19 extremely challenging.

“We needed something to escape,” he explains. “That’s what the Alpha Wave Experience is about: stepping back, closing your eyes, and seeing inside yourself. Sober.”

To bring the Alpha Wave Experience to life, Ghenacia collaborated with creative engineer Annie Kirsten and co-producer Tolga Fidan. Alpha Wave Experience is inspired by poet and performance artist Brion Gysin’s Dreamachine at the end of the 50’s, which was designed to induce a particular frequency of brainwaves called alpha waves, which are released when the mind goes into a state of dreaming, sleep, or meditation. Working with engineer Ian Summerville, Gysin created a flickering visual installation made with a cylinder rotating on a turntable at 78rpm. The bulb at the centre of the cylinder threw light projections and shadows in patterns around the room and lulled its viewers into a state of deep relaxation. Ghenacia explains how the music is the driver of the experience, creating an internal landscape of shapes and colours. The multi-sensory artwork sits on the intersection of contemporary art, musical composition, and sound environment design. It creates an expanded experience of both artwork and music and is part of an ongoing investigation into how music changes the atmosphere and can deepen the feelings inspired by art in an audience.

Alpha Wave forms part of a selection of multidisciplinary exhibitions that showcase the many faces of craft, design and art. You can come and explore at the Oxo Tower from 6 to 10 October.

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Please, book your 30 min slot and make sure you arrive on time. Every slot can accommodate two people. Each session will last 30 minutes and will be guided by the creator himself - Dan Ghenacia.

Alongside this unique experience, you will be able to visit 6 other exhibitions, across craft, photography, illustration and more. Join us for this visually stimulating and multidisciplinary feast of art.

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Private View: 6th October | 5:30pm - 8:30pm

Opening Times: 7 - 10th October | 11am - 6pm

Find out more about the event and everyone involved here:

www.cluster-london.com | [email protected] | +44 7808 659141