A Semantic Survey of Emotions spans the artmaking and neuroscience practices of Marcos Lutyens and Richard Cytowic to inform the development of The Main Museum. By completing a survey (or two), each about a minute in length to finish, participants will not only supply data to the museum that will inform its future organizing, building, and conceptual framework, but that will be used as the material for a new work of art by Lutyens in collaboration with Cytowic. The form of the project is open-ended to accommodate the results, but may include a performance, a talk, an installation, or some other expression we do not yet know.
The surveys draw upon Cytowic’s expertise in synesthesia, or the phenomenon of paired senses (e.g. tasting color), and Lutyens’s past work in the art exploring psychology and utilizing surveys. Lutyens’s partnership with The Main is part of an ongoing, open-ended conversation about the potentiality of the museum.
Notes by Richard Cytowic:
May 10, 2017: First thoughts.
Start with the Excel file called “semantic survey – forced choice graphs.” Click on the “submissions” tab, and we see that the most numerous museum goers are between the ages of 30 and 55.
The part 2 Semantic Color Survey suggests in going forward that an oppositional pairing of magenta vs. green will elicit the most interest.
Images include possible interventions in the museum derived from the survey.
Survey active 2017-2018
