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Have you ever wished you could read minds? If so, go to Burning Man this year and check out Mens Amplio (Latin for “expand your mind”).

What is it?

Mens Amplio will be a 15 foot tall model of a human head and brain, designed by Don Cain and built by ateam of artists from a wide range of disciplines.

The brain will incorporate an array of light and flame effects controlled by a participant through the use of an EEG headset. The headset will translate the participant’s shifting mental and emotional state into patterns of light and fire mimicking the images of clinical brain scans in real time.

Essentially, if you’re hooked up to this giant playa brain, fire and colored lights will show the crowd what you’re thinking and feeling in response to certain stimuli, at least in a general sense. I can imagine so many naughty tricks we could play with this crazy machine.

Don Cain and crew are constructing this wonder of metal, fire and neurology at the Department of Spontaneous Combustion.

The Ignite.me team had the opportunity to ask the Mens Amplio designer a few questions about the inspiration and philosophy motivating their work.

What is the story behind the concept? How’d you come up with such a wild and fantastic idea?

The idea for this project was sparked when I saw the cover of the December 2012 Smithsonian Magazine.  My first thought was, “Wow, that’s a really clever way of depicting a brain.”  Of course, with my background in making large scale art, the ensuing thought was, “That would look really fantastic if it was huge and made out of steel!”  The following weeks brought embellishments to the idea.  Its final design incorporated my background and experiences in med tech, electronics, fabrication and fire effects.

Who will wear the EEG headset? Random volunteers? Or is it more of a scheduled demonstration? 

The hope is that people passing by us will see that there is something going on in the crowd and notice that others are lined up to take a spin at it. There won’t be “demonstrations” scheduled; we want the people to participate and try it for themselves and experience the interactive aspect of the use of their own brain activity controlling the light and fire show.

“You notice a crowd gathered around the head and around a person seated on the ground in front of the head…The crowd is interacting with the seated person who is wearing a headset. As the mood of the seated person changes – at times with the prompting of the crowd – the patterns of light and fire change.” Should the headset wearer be scared? What are you going to have that crowd do to us?

If the headset wearer is in a focused and meditative state, the light and fire will reflect this. If the headset wearer gets excited or roused up all of a sudden, the crowd will see and they too will become energetic. It may be that the participant is focusing really hard to calm their thought and their friends circle around and provide a challenge by distracting the headset wearer. There are many variations of ways to have fun with the interactive aspect of our sculpture!

Is there any way to estimate how many hours you and your crew will log on this installation? 

Total hours to build it should be close to 1500 person hours…..

What do you hope we take away from the interaction with your project? Any particular ideas or emotions you hope to elicit?

Rather than taking away a specific, single emotion, I think the fun of our project comes from playing with the experience of how our emotions ebb and flow. The participant gets to play with the shifts and changes which are naturally constant within our brain and find personal meaning within the context of the art sculpture’s atmosphere.

How can people who are interested in your project help you?

Our supporters can visit us on the web at ma-brains.com for news and events. Soon, we will be publishing an Indiegogo fundraising campaign where people can donate to help the project. In exchange for the donation, we’ll give out prizes and Mens Amplio swag. If we meet our fundraising goals, we look forward to taking the sculpture to local Bay Area schools for hands on/interactive education in science, art, and technology.

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