Transdisciplinary artist Roel Heremans discusses the importance of personal interactions as an artist-in-residence
Belgian artist Roel Heremans explores the nexus of art, ethics, and technology. Through immersive installations and sonorous, philosophical works, he invites visitors to engage with the ethical implications of emerging technologies. He is currently working on ‘Resonance of Renewal’, an artwork stemming from a residency involving different Belgian partners and research institutes.
Heremans divides his time between his native Brussels and Stockholm. His exhibitions have been featured across the globe, from Venice to Dubai and Wuhan. As an artist, he is also crossing disciplinary boundaries, exploring the promise and pitfalls of new technologies and biodata in a way that engages his audience to connect, reflect, and co-create an immersive experience.
Before diving into his goals and creative process, Heremans takes us back to where it all started. One particular serendipitous moment would put his life on a different path.
An accident that changed everything
“Fifteen years ago, I was involved in a serious accident. While cycling home I was hit by a car. The impact resulted in a double brain haemorrhage, a skull fracture, broken vertebrae and eye socket… I suffered bleeding in my left hemisphere which caused aphasia, and I also temporarily lost my short-term memory. Because of these injuries, the disinhibition that normally balances the two hemispheres in the brain was also off. Basically, the disinibition of my right hemisphere was temporarily gone.”
“During the first few weeks of my rehabilitation, I went through emotions and experiences that I still cannot put into words today.”
The incident transformed Heremans into an artist, he says. “Ever since then, I have been trying to rediscover what I experienced and to find ways to share these impressions with others.” It would signify the start of a daily search into the meaning of time, perception, and the reconstruction of our own experiences.
At the time, Heremans also underwent a battery of neurological tests. “Dozens of fMRIs, EEGs… the whole shebang. This encounter with brain measurement and brain-computer interfaces had a big impact on my career as well, and became a recurring topic in my artistic work.”
The accident also stirred a sort of urgency, he shares. “I felt like everything could end for me at any given moment. That made me want to pour all my energy into something meaningful. Something that goes beyond this life.”
Imagination, interaction, and peering into the brain
Heremans abandoned his studies in philosophy and communication science and first attended the RITCS in Brussels, working with radio and imagination, in search of his own voice and format. He later pursued a Master ArtScience Interfaculty in The Netherlands.
“One of the first works I exhibited was Room C in ‘STUK’ in Leuven. It touches on reconstructing time, how we as individuals live our lives. It’s conceptual art you need to experience with others. Room C traveled to S.M.A.K. in Ghent and also to Amsterdam. Another one of my early works involved a transmitter; you had a button to use to start a duet with another person.”
After these first works that were directly or indirectly related to imagination, Heremans wanted to take it one step further and explore the link between imagination and brain activity. “I bought a Muse, one of the cheaper tools to do EEG [electroencephalography] measurements. This kickstarted my search for data to get to the heart of people’s imagination.”
Master ArtScience
At BE SciComm, we have been jealous of The Netherlands for years, with multiple universities offering Science Communication degrees. We shouldn’t be surprised to learn that our Northern neighbors would be ahead of the game when it comes to the interdisciplinary area of science and arts.
The Master ArtScience Interfaculty degree Roel Heremans pursued is described as a unique interdisciplinary art program, embedded in both the Royal Academy and the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague. Students can put together a tailored curriculum, also tapping into collaborating programs at the Academy for Creative and Performing Arts at Leiden University and the Media Technology MSc program.
Neurorights and brain-computer interfaces
Heremans quickly realized that there was a dark and dangerous side to his quest. “Will companies use our brain data to learn more about our imagination? If you think of how social media works today, it’s not that big of a leap. When I learned about the NeuroRights initiative, I was immediately convinced that this ethical dimension is both super important and impactful.”
NeuroRights refers to an international legal framework put forward by a global consortium of neuroscientists. First developed by researchers at Columbia University in New York, the NeuroRights aim to safeguard human rights to privacy of thought amidst advancements in neurotechnology.
“The five NeuroRights stipulate, for example, that nobody—or nothing, because it may also be an algorithm—can make you doubt your own identity, or can impact your ability to make your own decisions,” explains Heremans. “One of the NeuroRights underscores the need for equal access to the benefits new technologies have to offer. Say we would have a machine that can make you smarter instantly, but only specific groups can use it, this would create a more unjust and unfair world.”
What are the five NeuroRights put forward by the NeuroRight Foundation?
1 \ The right for personal identity
This consists of limiting any neurotechnology that would alter a person’s sense of self and preventing personal identity from being lost through connection to external digital networks.
2 \ The right for free will
This refers to preserving people’s ability to make decisions freely and autonomously, that is, without any manipulation or influence mediated by neurotechnologies.
3 \ The right for mental privacy
This protects individuals from the use of data obtained during the measurement of their brain activity without their consent and expressly prohibits any commercial transaction involving this data.
4 \ The right for equal access
This seeks to regulate the application of neurotechnologies to increase brain capacities, so that they are not only available to a few and do not generate inequality in society.
5 \ The right for protection against biases
This prevents people from being discriminated against on the basis of any factor, such as a mere thought, that can be obtained through the use of neurotechnologies.
“When you reflect on the content of each of the NeuroRights for a moment, you might agree that it’s clear we’re already heading into this direction today,” says Heremans.
He created a NeuroRight Arcade for each of the five NeuroRights. These installations have been a huge success: they were featured at Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria, the biggest art festival of its kind, and travelled to different musea across Europe, including GUM in Ghent and IMPAKT in Utrecht. Later this year the arcades will be showcased at the Fiber festival in Amsterdam and afterwards at Sónar+D in Barcelona.
“I wanted to combine different angles with the NeuroRight Arcades,” explains Heremans. “First of all, I wanted to create something refreshing, inviting young and old to explore and play. As a nineties kid, I figured an arcade could do the trick—and it turns out I am not the only one who loves to push colorful buttons. Of course, the ‘game’ gets a bit darker...”
The arcade will ask the visitor to put on headphones, which in reality contain a brain-computer interface. Next, the machine prompts you to imagine a situation while measuring your brain activity.
“When you approach one of the arcades and put on the headphones, you’ll hear a voice that explains ‘the line you see now is your brain’s activity’. The voice starts with innocent questions, like asking you to move your arms or legs. But quickly it goes much deeper, for example asking ‘When was the last time you lied?’ or ‘What is the biggest secret someone shared with you?’”
The arcade triggers the visitor to imagine if every lie you’ve ever told or secret you’ve ever kept could be revealed. As a final message, the voice would warn that while today this may still be a hypothetical dilemma, without an ethical framework, businesses will soon be able to use brain data to learn about your lies and your secrets. Finally, the machine provides you with a QR code and distillation of your input and collected brainwaves.
“The arcades are on the one hand an engaging experience inviting visitors to critically reflect on the potential challenges that come with new neurotechnologies, but on the other hand, they are kind of ambiguous machines themselves. They show you a potentially dangerous feature, but they already do what they warn you about.”
Little lights of hope
Currently, Heremans is working on a new installation as part of the S+T+ARTS in the City artist-in-residence program on ‘the value of care’. Led by Gluon, a Brussels-based platform for art, science and technology, and including partner organizations Innoviris, VIB, imec and the Jules Bordet Hospital, the idea is to make an art installation in the context of cancer care.
“The call was themed around how to use art and data to empower patients. How can we make the patient expert of their own data and disease? With the NeuroRight Arcades, I provided a critical reflection on emerging neurotechnologies. Now I am trying to take a different perspective and focus on the positive impact of data and technology. ”
Heremans admits he signed up for quite a challenge. “I gave it a lot of thought. Of course, I have experience working with biodata in art installations, but this has always been more at the conceptual level. When it comes to cancer patients, that’s a whole other story.”
In search for a creative way to use scientific data to bring a message of hope, one quote in particular inspired Heremans. Dirk Van Gestel, the director of the Jules Bordet Hospital, and member of the Local Expert Group during the S+T+ARTS residency, mentioned that if you were dealt a cancer diagnosis 25 years ago, your chances of survival over the next five years were slim. Today, the prognosis has improved spectacularly, but the stigma remains.
“Every year, about 100,000 scientific studies are published in the field of oncology. That’s one every five minutes. Each study represents a glimmer of hope, that is basically what I want to show in my sculpture.”
The title of the new work will be ‘Resonance of Renewal’. Heremans already completed the prototype: an abstract shape, representing the patient—”something organic, unquantifiable, in contrast to the clean and sleek feel of a modern hospital”—surrounded by a myriad of little lights.
“Through integrating a live database, each time a new study is published, a small light will travel through the sculpture, a bit like an abacus or counting frame, lighting up the sculpture more and more as the day passes. I hope in this way to bring the subtle message of hope for patients.”
The power of a residency
Heremans has worked with scientists in different constellations. “For former works, I talked extensively with EEG specialists. I also collaborated with researchers at KU Leuven in the context of four master theses to develop the hardware and software I needed for my installations.”
A residency does offer a unique insight, he says. “Physically spending time together makes all the difference. It allows you to communicate so much more than what you could ever put on paper. From witnessing someone’s day or their train of thought, to technical details of a process. A lot of what you pick up is perhaps difficult to quantify but that doesn’t make it any less valuable.”
While scientists and artists may take a different approach to their daily work, their experiences also have a lot in common. Heremans is convinced that by spending time together, these overlaps become more and more obvious.
“For me, the most beautiful art and the most poetic moments arise when I encounter something I don’t fully understand. Only when I start digging and unraveling, I discover its deeper meaning.” This is a feeling many scientists may recognize.
“It often boils down to taking your time,” he says. “Great art requires time for ideas and manifestations to take root, grow, and mature. In today’s world, everything needs to happen fast and be measurable. Implementing this sort of slowness has become a real challenge, both for individuals and organizations.”
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