eXhale
8th November 2002, 11:34 AM
A friend "accidentally" showed me this article (http://www.hypnosisis.com/new_page_2.htm) which I think is *very* interesting regarding what we do as VJs. Below are some of the most interesting parts (IMO). I think it relates pretty well to that other discussion on subliminals. :)
Light
The knowledge that a flickering light can cause mysterious visual hallucinations and alterations in consciousness is something humans have known since the discovery of fire. It must have been knowledge of great value to the ancient shamans and poets, who learned how to use the images in the flames to enhance their magic. Ancient scientists were also intrigued by this phenomenon, and explored its practical applications. In 125 AD Apuleius experimented with a flickering light stimulus produced by the rotation of a potter's wheel, and found it could be used to reveal a type of epilepsy. Around 200 AD Ptolemy noted that when he placed a spinning spoked wheel between an observer and the sun, the flickering of the sunlight though the spokes of the spinning wheel could cause patterns and colors to appear before the eyes of the observer and could produce a feeling of euphoria.Sound and Light Together
Humans have also long been intrigued by the possibilities for influencing mental functioning that emerge from combining both rhythmic light and rhythmic sound stimulation. Ancient rituals for entering trance states often involved both rhythmic sounds in the form of drumbeats, clapping or chanting, and flickering lights produced by candles, torches, bonfires or long lines of human bodies rhythmically dancing, their forms passing before the fire and chopping the light into mesmerizing rhythmic flashes. Some composers of the past, such as the visionary Scriabin, actually created music intended to be experienced in combination with rhythmic light displays.(Was this Scriabin the first audiovisual artist? ;))
Modern Technology
Technological advances made possible even more powerful combinations of sound and light. Moving pictures developed soundtracks, and moviemakers quickly exploited the potentials of sound to enhance the power of the flickering images on screen, so that movies like ?Gone With the Wind,? ?The Wizard of Oz? and others that followed became true audio-visual experiences in which the rhythmic soundtrack was fused with the flickering light and the rhythmic flickering of montage editing techniques to create alterations in the consciousness of the audience that would have been impossible using only sound or only light.
The interplay of electronic musical instruments and amplified sound with stroboscopic ?psychedelic light shows? that took place in the rock concerts of the 1960s could produce rapid and profound alterations in consciousness. Modern scientific research into the effects of rhythmic light and sound began in the mid 1930s when scientists discovered that the electrical rhythms of the brain tended to assume the rhythm of a flashing light stimulus, a process called entrainment. Research shifted into high gear in the late 1940s when the great British neuroscientist W. Gray Walter used an electronic strobe and advanced EEG equipment to investigate what he called the ?flicker phenomenon.? He found that rhythmic flashing lights quickly altered brainwave activity, producing trance like states of profound relaxation and vivid mental imagery. He was also startled to find that the flickering seemed to alter the brain wave activity of the whole cortex instead of just the areas associated with vision.
Walter wrote: ?The rhythmic series of flashes appear to be breaking down some of the physiologic barriers between different regions of the brain. This means the stimulus of flicker received by the visual projection area of the cortex was breaking bounds its ripples were overflowing into other areas.? The subjective experiences of those receiving the flashes were even more intriguing: Subjects reported lights like comets, ultra- unearthly colors, mental colors, and not deep visual ones. We now know we see and hear with our brain not with our eyes and ears.
A flood of subsequent scientific research in the 1960s and 70s revealed that such flicker effects at certain frequencies seemed to have amazing powers. Various scientists discovered that such photic stimulation could have a variety of beneficial effects, such as increasing IQ scores, enhancing intellectual functioning and producing greater synchronization between the two hemispheres of the brain. Other researchers found that the addition of rhythmic auditory signals dramatically increased the mind enhancing effects.
Light
The knowledge that a flickering light can cause mysterious visual hallucinations and alterations in consciousness is something humans have known since the discovery of fire. It must have been knowledge of great value to the ancient shamans and poets, who learned how to use the images in the flames to enhance their magic. Ancient scientists were also intrigued by this phenomenon, and explored its practical applications. In 125 AD Apuleius experimented with a flickering light stimulus produced by the rotation of a potter's wheel, and found it could be used to reveal a type of epilepsy. Around 200 AD Ptolemy noted that when he placed a spinning spoked wheel between an observer and the sun, the flickering of the sunlight though the spokes of the spinning wheel could cause patterns and colors to appear before the eyes of the observer and could produce a feeling of euphoria.Sound and Light Together
Humans have also long been intrigued by the possibilities for influencing mental functioning that emerge from combining both rhythmic light and rhythmic sound stimulation. Ancient rituals for entering trance states often involved both rhythmic sounds in the form of drumbeats, clapping or chanting, and flickering lights produced by candles, torches, bonfires or long lines of human bodies rhythmically dancing, their forms passing before the fire and chopping the light into mesmerizing rhythmic flashes. Some composers of the past, such as the visionary Scriabin, actually created music intended to be experienced in combination with rhythmic light displays.(Was this Scriabin the first audiovisual artist? ;))
Modern Technology
Technological advances made possible even more powerful combinations of sound and light. Moving pictures developed soundtracks, and moviemakers quickly exploited the potentials of sound to enhance the power of the flickering images on screen, so that movies like ?Gone With the Wind,? ?The Wizard of Oz? and others that followed became true audio-visual experiences in which the rhythmic soundtrack was fused with the flickering light and the rhythmic flickering of montage editing techniques to create alterations in the consciousness of the audience that would have been impossible using only sound or only light.
The interplay of electronic musical instruments and amplified sound with stroboscopic ?psychedelic light shows? that took place in the rock concerts of the 1960s could produce rapid and profound alterations in consciousness. Modern scientific research into the effects of rhythmic light and sound began in the mid 1930s when scientists discovered that the electrical rhythms of the brain tended to assume the rhythm of a flashing light stimulus, a process called entrainment. Research shifted into high gear in the late 1940s when the great British neuroscientist W. Gray Walter used an electronic strobe and advanced EEG equipment to investigate what he called the ?flicker phenomenon.? He found that rhythmic flashing lights quickly altered brainwave activity, producing trance like states of profound relaxation and vivid mental imagery. He was also startled to find that the flickering seemed to alter the brain wave activity of the whole cortex instead of just the areas associated with vision.
Walter wrote: ?The rhythmic series of flashes appear to be breaking down some of the physiologic barriers between different regions of the brain. This means the stimulus of flicker received by the visual projection area of the cortex was breaking bounds its ripples were overflowing into other areas.? The subjective experiences of those receiving the flashes were even more intriguing: Subjects reported lights like comets, ultra- unearthly colors, mental colors, and not deep visual ones. We now know we see and hear with our brain not with our eyes and ears.
A flood of subsequent scientific research in the 1960s and 70s revealed that such flicker effects at certain frequencies seemed to have amazing powers. Various scientists discovered that such photic stimulation could have a variety of beneficial effects, such as increasing IQ scores, enhancing intellectual functioning and producing greater synchronization between the two hemispheres of the brain. Other researchers found that the addition of rhythmic auditory signals dramatically increased the mind enhancing effects.