6th Clark Bursary
The Dream Director
by Luke Jerram
Posted Wed 1 Nov 06
 
Beginning
So here we are this is the beginning of a new era. I’m thinking to use this space as diary, to log what we do and the problems and breakthroughs we have. To begin, the history of the project is described in detail here. www.lukejerram.com. In brief…. the SKy Orchestra led to the Dream Concerts- (mass sleepover events) taking place, which led to the Dream Director being built.
Main team members on this Clark Bursary project include Chris Alford-sleep psychologist at UWE. Oliver Humpage technician at Watershed. Dave Boultbee technical whizz who helped me build my old installation Tide. Dan Jones- composer of the Sky Orchestra.
We’re coming to the end of a years Arts Science AHRC research at UWE where we’ve built and tested our Dream Director. Its a machine that uses the phenomenon of incorporation to affect the dreaming content of a participant. Using a wireless heart rate monitor it can tell when someone is in REM and delivers a sound sample to them whilst they are dreaming. Scientific data has been collected and analysed but we’ve had technical difficulties all year which have slowed down our progress. Although the kit works well enough for scientific research its not robust enough to become a tourable artwork.
We hope the Dream Director will have clinical applications for people suffering from trauma who commonly experience reoccuring nightmares. With the support of the Clark bursary I also hope it can also form an interactive artwork. The dream director as it stands only works for one person at a time, so the plan is to scale up the technology to enable many participants to get involved simultaneously. The problems we’ve faced have made me think seriously about using other methods to measure when someone is dreaming. Last week we went to UWE and wired Dave up using electrodes to measure REM. It could work but involves building most of the DD (dream director) from scratch. Finally got a kit from Poland thats supposed to measure REM using infra red. By flashing lights at you during REM its supposed to be used as a tool to promote lucid dreaming. So far I’ve had no joy with is but may be we could adapt this kit?
Posted Wed 1 Nov 06
Experience of The Dream Director
After months of problems I’ve been using the existing Dream Director for a few nights. I’ve been having some extraordinary dreams but can’t as yet prove they’ve been influenced by the machine. We have a range of sounds which play and are triggered by REM. The sound of a train, a bouy bell, somone laughing, a ticking clock etc. You sleep though some of the sounds, but these may affect your dreaming content through incorporation. Others particularly human voices seem to partially wake you up.Some sounds are consciously heard when one is actually in the dream. Each sound plays for 15 seconds. Some pull you out of the dream and make you aware that you’re dreaming before you can slip back into the same dream. Whilst promoting lucidity you also end up remembering alot more of your dreams in the night.Last night I dreamt about being on a ship and then the DD played the sound of typewriter, I thought it was something else on the ship, but it partially woke me up and I realised what it was. What will happen if the DD plays the sound of the sea which is more in context with the dream?
From these latest experiences I think the DD can certainly promote lucidity by stopping and starting a dream, but I also think we’re beginning to be able to alter the dreaming content itself. Its a whole new territory to begin to explore as a creative medium.
Posted Tue 7 Nov 06
Iran and Beyond
Good news. Chris Alford and I had a meeting with Cambridge Neurotechnology ( the company who supplied the last Dream Director kit we used. They’ve agreed to help us build the multiuser artwork. This is good news as it saves us having to build the kit from scratch. We’ll need some sponsorship for the laptops though.
Iran……
A friend of mine invited me to give a few talks in Iran. Visa’s finally come through( no thanks to Mr Blair and our relations with the US). I’m off tomorrow for 2 weeks. PLanning to spend time studying the sacred geometry of Isfahan and visit the shaking minarets. I’ve had dreams of sky blue domes melting into the sky.
I hope to interview a well diver for an new artwork I hope to make. Qanat’s are wells dug into the ground by hand. A series of wells are then dug towards the direction of the town. A tunnel then connects the bottom of the wells to one another so transporting water many miles underground into town. Its a very efficent way of transporting water as there is very little evaporation. There are some 20,000 of them in Iran which can be seen as lines of spots as you fly overhead. Traditionally well divers are seen as holy men. Its a very dangerous job. Swimming in water 100ft down at the bottom of a well, the men (covered in camel fat to keep them warm) have to hold there breath and swim to the base of the well to dig underwater in the dark.
This trip means leaving Shelina (fiance) and Maya (my new daughter-4 months) for 2 weeks. Ill miss them alot, it may be unbearable at times. And I’ll be really upset if maya doesn’t recognise me when I get home. I’m surprised Shelina’s allowed me to go.
Posted Wed 22 Nov 06
Images from Iran
 
Posted Wed 6 Dec 06
Floating Worlds
Back from Iran. I went down with a cold from the Air con on the plane which I’ve now given to Shelina and Maya.
The Trip was extraordinary though. Lots of powerful images…My memory of the mosque in Esfahan we visited is of a space of rippling patterns, infinite shimering details. Multiple layers of shifting symmetrical surfaces. The air is cool and still, the space is filled with golden sunlight. The walls aren’t attached to the ground but seem to hover.
We visited the desert and on the way home at night stopped the car in the middle of the darkest part of the road. There was no traffic, no light from anywhere apart from the stars. You could easily see the milky way across the sky and what looked like black clouds within it. These I’m told, were dark nebulae- the birth place of stars. Clouds of gas and dust that prevent light from passing through. I’ve never seen the sky in such detail. There was a curious smell in the air though, turns out we’d stopped near a dead camel.
Interview with Qanat well digger was successful. Still not sure what artwork I’m going to make with the stories he told. BBC want to make a radio documentary about me make this new work.
Mentoring with Claire seems very productive at the moment. She’s really helping me think about where I want to go, what I want to be doing. Its so valuable having someone ask these important questions. It would take me years of trial and error to come to some of the same conclusions.
Tried the original Dream Director machine last night. Its still playing up. I was woken by sounds at midnight. The machine said I was dreaming and in shallow sleep simultaneously. Really frustrating.
Written an informal description on the History of Sky Orchestra for Artshub. Its on my website now too.
Posted Wed 20 Dec 06
Yesterday, next Feb and 5 year's time
 
Yesterday we made the decision to create the artwork using the cheaper REM measuring kits. Dave boultbee and I were down Spike Island studio in the evening soldering the components together last night. The hardwiring for the prototype is almost complete.
Dave and I have worked on projects like this together for about 6years now. We’ve seen it all, from wonderful Eureka moments where things actually work, to times of dissaster- circuits blowing up, electrocuting ourselves, etc . But I really like routing round looking for tiny electrical components in an evening. Drinking tea with mince pies and the smell of solder in the air is great.
Bad news - the original heart monitoring Dream Director that we’ve been using for scientific work this year has been stolen from Dan’s house. More scientific work was planned at UWE for the spring which will now have to be delayed until a new kit is built. Luckily I’d made a copy of all the data we’d collected.
Sky Orchestra is opening the Sydney Festival. There’s a link on my website….lukejerram.com. The festival is a huge international event and is predominantly full of theatre, dance and music. I’m hoping this event may open new doors for us to create new works to be exhibited in the same context.
Having said that I’m not really looking forward to another 2 weeks away. With a 6month old baby at home, there really needs to be 2 parents around.
The Clark Bursary is giving me time to make plans for the long term. I’m making a few cunning plans for the next 5 years that will enable me to grow my practice at a slow and sustainable pace. I want to begin to work on larger more ambitious projects working with archictects,engineers and designers. It feels like bad luck to talk about them in too much detail though. I sometimes think its the opportunities you decide not to take which decide the path. I’ll just keep sowing seeds and let time and the opportunities which arrive to decide my fate.
Posted Sat 6 Jan 2007
Software
I’m Oliver, head of ICT at Watershed. Gill Haworth mentioned I should post about the project from Watershed’s point of view, so here goes.
I’ve often been called upon to write software for artists’ projects, but this one is one of the most fun ones. Partly the project, partly the people.
The decision having been made to go down the mask route rather than use a heart monitor, the prototype now has to be built. This is theoretically quite easy to do, at least from a software point of view. The electronics are a bit harder (to convert a flashing LED into the closing of a switch), but we have Dave working on them: I thought he’d overcomplicated things a bit, but it turns out he really knows his stuff and has created just what we need.
For the prototype, only one sleeper is involved (eventually one computer will have to detect the dreaming of many poeple, and play sounds to them, totally independently) - however, I’m programming it as if there are lots of people attached to one computer, so that less adjusting is needed later.
The detection process is simple: the closing of the relay switch on Dave’s circuit will trigger a programme to run on the computer - the programme will determine who is dreaming, select a random sound for them, and play it to them. The triggering is done a bit like those multi-button mice you get, where the various buttons can be made to run a programme, but we’re using a “Joybox” from (http://www.keytools.com): this simply converts the closing of a switch into a signal which software like USB Overdrive (http://www.usboverdrive.com) can handle. This gives us up to 8 independent inputs.
As for sound output, we’ll be using a break-out box like an M-audio Firewire410 which has 8 sound outputs. A QuickTime movie can have its sound output directed to any available output channel (and that setting saved with the movie), which means that, for each person, a folder of soundfiles is created each of which plays out of the channel specific to that person. Different sounds can thus be played to different people simultaneously and independently, since QuickTime can easily play many soundfiles at once.
Writing the Applescript only took a few minutes - it’s pretty simple to make sure the user hasn’t heard a sound in the last n seconds, select a random soundfile, log it and play it. Progress is helped by the fact I’ve written a lot of this kind of stuff before, e.g. for the Calling project (http://www.calling.org.uk).
I can’t wait for the equipment (Joybox) to arrive so I can plug everything together and make my eye movements trigger sounds.
That’s all for now - I’ll post source to the programme and more pics when the prototype is up and running.
Posted Mon 8 Jan 07
Posts from Australia
Hi this is Gill from Watershed. Luke is currently in Australia performing another of his projects ‘The Sky Orchestra’, which is the opening event of The Sydney Festival. Seven hot air balloons, each with speakers attached, took off at sunrise to fly across the West of the city creating a sky borne symphony. The performance was created by Luke with composer Dan Jones who is also collaborating with Luke on The Dream Director for the Clark Bursary. Luke sent through the links below which show how the events have been going in Sydney.
Festival preview
Festival preview
Film of first flight
Film of 2nd flight
Film of fourth flight
Film of fifth flight
Sydney to Bangkok
Slide show of images
Posted Tue 16 Jan 07
Prototype finished (posted by Oliver from Watershed)
Here is a picture of the first prototype of the dream director:
To explain:
Normally the Mask circuit is tucked into the mask, which the sleeper wears. When the sleeper’s eye movements become REM-like, the LEDs in the mask circuit flash: however, Dave’s circuit picks this up (you can the wires going between the two circuits), and closes a relay. The act of this switch closing triggers the joybox to send a signal to the laptop to say that the switch has closed. On the laptop, software called USB Overdrive notices the switch press, and runs an Applescript which plays (and logs) a sound, selected at random from the sounds we want the sleeper to hear.
The point of all this is that the joybox can support up to 8 people. If the laptop has a firewire breakout box that can support up to 8 audio outputs (such as an M-Audio Firewire410), then up to 8 sleepers can be played different sounds totally independently, depending on their own dreaming patterns.
I’m looking forward to testing this kit on Thursday, when we all get together and spend a day working on it.
Posted Wed 31 Jan 07
Sleep Pods and Time for Testing
We did a sound test at the watershed with sound absorbant foam to design the sleep pods/booths. Decided not to use perspex domes as it would cost alot and they’d be difficult to store. Came up with a design using MDF that flatpacks, easy to make, easy to store and is cheap. They work and you feel like you’re in a den once inside. The only problem is they look a bit like a bread bin!!
Sleep mask fitted with electronics. Something really nice about sewing electronics into material. They make the wearer look a bit like a cyborg which is fun. The sleep mask contains an Infra Red transmitter and receiver to track your eye movements when you’re in dreaming REM (rapid eye movement)state. The idea is the sounds, eg a steamtrain, will play during REM and will be incorporated into the participants dream space. The prototype is ready for testing, so I’ll let u know what happens!
Posted Wed 21 Feb 07
Home Test, Sleep Pods
I did two nights testing with the dream director. I had a really bad night’s sleep! It was too sensitive and kept triggering every 10minutes. Turns out there’s a sensitivity setting so I need to alter that. We also need to attach a snooze switch, to allow participants to get back to sleep in silence if they wake up in the middle of the night. These additional requirements that you discover along the way are called design brief ’slippage’. Dave (who’s dealing with the electronic hardware) knows a lot about design philosophies and I’m learning a lot from his more academic approach.
Looks like the event will not be held at the Watershed. Its just too noisy at night with sound from the nightclub below. We’re currently looking at alternative spaces. I’m interested in how the context will alter the experience people will have. What will happen if the event is staged in a science museum, a sleep lab, an old derilict house, a modern art gallery? The context will also potentially change peoples expectations, the rules of engagement and how the event is interpreted.
If we describe the sleep event as scientific research how does that alter peoples expectations to if its just an artwork? What hat should I wear for the night? Who would you trust more, a University science researcher, an inventor or an artist? Or perhaps what is more important is the way I describe the event and help set the tone for the nights event?
The sleepover events we’ve held so far are very relaxed and with an exciting feeling of expectation about them.
5 Sleep Pods have been built for the first sleep test. When you’re inside you feel a bit like a child in a den. It feels safe and quite private. I hope other people feel that way.
bed-design-animation.avi - 1.39MB
Posted Thu 21 March 07
5 Person Test
Spent yesterday setting up at Spike Island’s Artspace for a 5 person test. People arrived and everything more or less worked well. It was the first time I was a participant in one of my sleep artworks. It was a really fun and sociable event! It’s certainly more fun than carrying out my sleep experiments at home alone. I had the most positive and vivid dreams too. Not the best nights sleep I’ve ever had though!
Oliver’s system was great and collected lots of data, which should be useful for our scientists.
Posted Mon 21 May 07
Creating the Final Artwork
Its all steam ahead now. Pods are being made, control units are being assembled. I’ve been buying all the components in bulk and trying to get discounts along the way. I’ve managed to get some sponsorship for the acoustic foam we’re using from Custom Audio Design.
I’ve really enjoyed working down the studio with my team of experts. Oliver, Dave, Steve and Dan. One day it might be nice to have my own full time team to help me on projects?
Its been hard managing and working on this project whist developing other artworks. As well as all this I have to be thinking about employment for nexyt year, pitching for new commissions and planning where I want to go next. Its like juggling, but as you go you have to put down the odd ball and pick up new ones. The trick is to always have balls in the air and be on the look out for more. Its quite exhausting in an exciting and challenging way.
Gill, Chris and I, have just put in a big application to the Wellcome Trust for funding to enable us to unpack our scientific findings to date, to create a publication and to tour the Dream Director. I do hope we get it. I should be surprised if we don’t at least get an interview. Fingers crossed.
Deadline for completing the work is 15thJune - our first sleep over event in at-Bristol. No pressure though, its only an event for invited curators, national journalists, sleep scientists and fellow media artists.. Aaauggghh !
Posted Thu 24 May 07
Birth of Birtha
Oliver here, thought I’d post some of Dave’s pics up.
Bertha is what we’re calling the “big box with lots of wires in” that is the heart/brain of the installation.
All the pods connect (via cat5 cabling for ease of use) back to this one box, which deals with:
* Playing a sound when the user is dreaming (so long as a sound hasn’t been played recently, and the hold switch hasn’t been pressed)
* Detecting the hold switch being pressed (which suppresses sounds for 30 minutes)
* Providing power and audio to each pod
* Logging all of the above
Attached to this post are some pictures. Explanation follows:
* A “podbox” sits by each pod (you can see the stack of podboxes on the shelves in the “podbox” picture)
* Dream mask plugs into podbox (user wears mask, which detects REM).
* A “hold switch” also plugs into podbox (user presses switch to stop sounds playing for a while)
* Speakers embedded into pod also plug into podbox
* When dream mask triggers, Cruzet unit in the podbox closes the connection on the cat5’s brown pair (which will be detected by the Mac Mini, and under normal circumstances this will cause a sound to be played to that pod)
* When hold switch is pressed, Cruzet unit closes connection on the blue pair (again detected by the Mac)
* The orange pair take power to the box
* The green pair carry left/right audio to the box (the ground is the common ground, i.e. the ground of the orange pair).
At the patch panel end, the green pair go straight from the back of the cat5 patch socket to the back of the minijack socket underneath, into the front of which is plugged a cable going to the relevant output on the relevant Firewire sound interface.
The blue and brown pairs go into a board full of diodes (to prevent phantom switching), then onto an interface board which connects them via an IDE cable to the XKeys Matrix USB interface which actually detects switches and tells the Mac Mini what’s happened. This is the mass of cables on the left of “Bertha’s behind”.
The orange pair go to the power unit (via the fuses, the black circles above each patch panel - see “Bertha’s front”).
At the time “Bertha’s behind” was taken, pods 3 and 4 had audio going to them (as shown by the green lights on audio interface 1).
  
Posted Mon 23 July 07
Participants' Dreams Directed
On Saturday we held The Dream Director sleep over at Arnolfini. We had a guy (a warehouse manager from Bristol) who, in the morning spoke about his dream of a empty teletubby landscape. But it was huge and the sky was blue and the space was vast, serene and empty with no trees or hedges. He was hovering high over this space.
When he then read his log of sounds for the night that he had been played he was amazed. That night he had slept in a pod which only played sounds of vast echoic empty spaces.- Canyons, distant trains in the landscape, an empty cathedral. etc. We had made this bank of sounds specifically to promote this type of dream (as these are my favourite) where one can see for miles and experience a vast empty space surrounding your body. Most dreams for me tend to be smaller more enclosed spaces.
It could be complete chance, but I feel the Dream Director shaped not only the content but also the mood of his dream. He said he’d never had a dream anything like it. If this is the case and we had sculpted his dream and delivered this experience. What is the artwork? - Is the artwork the physical installation, the concept or participants 12 hour experience? Is the artwork his dream, the memory of the dream or the physical firing neurons. If he had other dreams of the similar nature but couldn;t remember them did the artwork still exist?
The Dream Director at Arnolfini - Sat 21 July:
    
Posted Fri 24 Aug 07
Arnolfini Documentation
Below is documentation of Luke’s presentation and panel discussion event at Arnolfini on Sat 21 July.
Click a size to view:
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Posted Fri 14 Sept 07
The Dream Director Film
This film by Kate Taunton documents the installation The Dream Director and the sleepover event which took place at Arnolfini on 21 July 2007. Click on the image below for video.
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