Imagining Thought in Digital Space: 3D printed thoughts

In this paper, I explore the history of Thought as a

theoretical domain that has been, and still is, expressed

through images. I survey the scientific legacy of

photography and brain–computer interface (BCI) as it

has been expressed through culture in images, art and

science fiction. The scientific framework scaffolds the

practice-based research in which I aim to represent

thoughts as data into a three-dimensional (3D) digital

space, culminating in the major body of work

Thoughtforms: 3D printed thoughts.

The aim of the project is to visually represent and

characterise forms of thought by recording brainwave

data captured from a mobile electroencephalograph

(EEG) device. I show how thoughts, as units of

information, are coded and decoded, and interpreted

through digital imaging and 3D printing. Through this

project, I was able to collect a dataset of over 200

digital thought forms which enabled me to identify and

classify “shapes” of thoughts corresponding to

representations of mental states.

My practice is positioned within a technology-driven

society saturated with information networks, consumer

data-tracking devices and biometrics profiling systems

and the untiring determination of art and science

continuing to explore the unknown.