There is a quote by Viktor Frankl that I often return to as I’m thinking about my work. “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

We make countless decisions every day. Some of the choices enter the realm of deliberate consideration, and others are seemingly automatic. There is the much publicized story of Mark Zuckerberg’s t-shirt, or President Obama’s navy suit that he wears daily, as evidence of making one less decision. Decisions deplete energy.

While there is a ‘space’ in which we are able to choose our response, I often consider the filters that a stimulus goes through as we formulate a response. Our accumulation of past experiences as well as our biological genetics both have a strong influence on that response. Often it is easier to rely on these filters, than to utilize mental energy in considering our response.

My circling of sensory perception has led me down several paths (trying to understand how the senses operate, as well as the consciousness that processes them). Recently, I’ve focused my attention in trying to understand the filter of memory. Eric Kandel’s “In Search of Memory” has been helpful in contextualizing the history (and contemporary understanding) of the biological basis of memory. Eric Kandel won the Nobel Prize in 2000 for his lifetime of work in the field.

Intellectual pursuit has been informing my intuition as I attempt to create an experience that is completed by the viewer. The ‘thing-ness’ of my experience is still being crafted. But the gravitational pull is coming from the creation of experience that is immersive and interactive. An experience involving the physical properties of light and water to incite a simultaneous response of curiosity and reflection of the filters influencing our lives.