The artist, musician, composer, and neuroscientist Kamran Fallahpour, PhD, presents his multisensory installation through the representation of an archetypal dyad of empathy through a nurturing vessel. The focal point of the art installation is a parametric figurative abstract bronze sculpture accompanied by a sonic experience that explores the emergence of empathy through the awareness and the distinction of the sense of self from another vessel mirroring the self.

Arrival | Consciousness at the Edge of Chaos (2023) is an exploration of our nurturing impulses that gives rise to the seeds of humanity: the experience of empathy. Being placed on a planet floating deep in the universe, Arrival is the meaning that arises from the unknown as our first contact with another being crystalizes into a vessel of empathy. Arrival represents a force that continues to persist throughout intergalactic existence, demanding for dynamic reorganization and redefinition. The capacity for empathetic impulse persists and evolves.

In an era in which neuroscience is getting closer to be on the cusp of understanding the fabric and mechanisms of consciousness and its relation to the unconscious, we ponder on the sense of self, emerging from our personal experiences and memories, realizing how the direction and quality of our attention defines and creates our reality. We are about to witness remarkable changes to the trajectory of our consciousness and, with it, the neuro-evolution of our species on this planet. What does it mean to be conscious, or rather, semi-conscious beings in this vast universe? What does it mean for our species to to be aware of ourselves in relation to others? What new seeds will emerge out of our evolving consciousness beyond the activation of our brain’s empathy network? 

The artist’s musical composition offers a parallel sensory experience that frames the visual and kinesthetic concept of the emergence of empathy. The music is a reminiscence of the same sonic architypes building a contextual fabric and accompanying the visual experience.  The composition is a dialogue between the various sonic elements creating melodic impressions out of artifactual sounds that seem to be at the edge of dysregulation. The multiple layers of unfamiliar and familiar sounds and background drones that mirror the vastness of the universe create an immersive sonic environment against which the various elements emerge and create a dialogue. The artist composed this music for the Arrival installation in collaboration with O-Neuro Ensemble and producer and violinist Jenna Varga. The lighting was crafted in partnership with Mac Waters.