In this podcast contemporary artist Susan Aldworth is in conversation with Ken Barrett. Susan has worked on collaboratively with neuroscientists and clinicians for over twenty years following a health scare. We speak about her projects based on brain imaging, epilepsy and sleep, her interest in embroidery as a story telling medium, combined with old garments, and her novel appraoch to print-making. We also take a dive into her most recent work, created in response to current political rhetoric regarding migration, exploring her own migrant, Italian, heritage.

Participants:

Susan Aldworth, artist. https://susanaldworth.com/

Ken Barrett, artist http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/

Music: Prelude to Act 1 of Brainland, by Stephen Brown http://cornwallcomposers.com/stephen.htm

A film about Illuminating the Self, the extraordinary epilepsy proejct we discuss is here:

https://susanaldworth.com/exhibitions/illuminating-the-self/ 

Animation of the toposcope images :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhH1XYALLPg

Brainland the opera:

https://www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk/

Portrait sketch by Ken Barrett.

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In this podcast Professor Philippa Levine, formerly Walter Prescott Webb Professor in History and Ideas at the University of Texas at Austin, is in conversation with Andy Platman and Ken Barrett. We discuss the British origins of eugenic ideas and the worldwide movement that followed. Nazi eugenics, from sterilisation to euthanasia are explored, but also how these ideas took off and were applied, in different forms, worldwide, most enthusiastically in the USA but also in Scandinavia, Australia, Latin America and beyond. But that doesn't entirely capture the depth and range of subjects covered in this extraordinary conversation.

Participants:

Professor Philippa Levine,

Dr Andy Platman, writer and former GP.

Ken Barrett, artist, writer and former neuropsychiatrist.

Eugenics: A very short introduction by Philippa Levine https://academic.oup.com/book/825?login=false

Musical extracts are from the opera Brainland composed by Stephen Brown https://www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk/

Portrait of Philippa Levine by Ken Barrett.

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In this episode Raymond Tallis, philosopher, poet and one time professor of geriatric medicine is in conversation with Stephen Brown. Their chat moves from the metaphysics of quantum mechanics to the definition of art and the language of music. Goethe's view of poetry and Scruton's thoughts on music get a mention before moving to the art of medicine, the difference between philosophical enquiry and artistic creativity and the philosophy of free will.

Their conversation concludes with Ray admitting to being a philosopher of optimism before reading his poem 'Meta-sonnet for the Dark Lady' followed by Steve Brown's setting.

Meta-sonnet for the Dark Lady

Or shall I live your epitaph to make,

 Or you survive when I in earth am rotten.

 There's nothing of you lives in these his lines

 - they did not lift you clear of death in pain.

 Long since, beneath the air that heard his rhymes,

 you flowed away, dissolved like him in rain.

 Your ghost shook off the flesh, its thrilling dark,

 those evening tones his fluent verse acclaimed.

 What's saved of you?

 The tetchy question mark of rival experts

 squabbling when you're named.

 Your smooth white neck was lost to red-lipped lust

 when Night reclaimed the sable from your hair.

 Dark Lady, arid footnotes, learned dust,

 your absence, wide and sexless as the air,

 behind the word-webbed nothing of your face,

 makes these his sonnets crypts for empty space.

Contributors:

Stephen Brown, composer, http://cornwallcomposers.com/

Raymond Tallis, philosopher and poet, http://www.raymondtallis.co.uk/

Music: All the music was written by Stephen Brown.

“Meta-sonnet to the dark lady” was sung by Maria Heseltine (mezzo-soprano) accompanied by the Corineus String Quartet. There is a very brief orchestral extract from a piece by Stephen called “Fear no more” performed by the Orchestra of St Mary’s, Penzance.

Other musical extracts are from a forthcoming suite that will combine two Shakespeare sonnets with the meta-sonnet.

Portrait of Raymond Tallis by Ken Barrett.

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In this podcast writer Alex Frith and illustrator Daniel Locke provide fascinating insights into the creation of their book Two Heads, produced in collaboration with Uta and Chris Frith. This is a deep dive into their creative process and a wider discussion about telling science stories using the comic format. The conversation ranged from Tintin to Dave Gibbons via Peanuts, Micky Mouse and Spider Man and the links between scientific and artistic creativity.

Contributors:

Alex Frith, writer. https://www.pewliterary.com/author/alex-frith

Daniel Locke, illustrator http://www.daniellocke.com/

Ken Barrett, artist, writer and illustrator http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/

Music: Prelude to Act 1of Brainland, by Stephen Brown. www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk

We also discuss Dan’s graphic novel ‘Out of Nothing’ created with David Blandy and Adam Rutherford.

http://www.daniellocke.com/out-of-nothing/

The illustration is based on an original by Daniel Locke.

A review of Two Heads is here:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/mar/29/two-heads-by-uta-frith-chris-frith-alex-frith-and-daniel-locke-review

We also discussed ‘Logicomix’ a great graphic novel about Bertrand Russell.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logicomix

and discussed - Dave Gibbons book ‘How comics work’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySWlFbxUK0g

https://www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk/

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In this podcast Professors Uta and Chris Frith, in conversation with Ken Barrett, speak about their brilliant and original book 'Two Heads', a 300 page comic that tracks their neuroscientific journeys (with over 300 academic references), acknowledges the many researchers they have worked with, and outlines their current understanding of how our brains work with other brains. The book was created with writer Alex Frith and illustrator Daniel Locke who have agreed to speak with us for part 2 later in the month. We talk about the origins of their book and their wider interest in the comic medium, Uta's work on ASD and neurodiversity and Chris's work on schizophrenia and functional imaging, and their most recent collaboration with the Interacting Minds Centre in Aarhus, Denmark. Max and Moritz, Phillip K Dick and Rain Man and a certain opera also get a mention.

Contributors:

Dame Uta Frith FRS is Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College, London.

Chris Frith FRS is Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology at the Welcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, and Honorary Research Fellow at the Institute of Philosophy, University of London.

Ken Barrett is a retired neuropsychiatrist and some time psychophysiology reseracher before his migration to the arts http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/ http://cornwallcomposers.com/stephen.htm

Music: Prelude to Act 1 of the opera Brainland composed by Stephen Brown www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk

A review of Two Heads is here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/mar/29/two-heads-by-uta-frith-chris-frith-alex-frith-and-daniel-locke-review

Portrait sketch by Ken Barrett.

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Brainland is a new opera that interweaves three stories from the history of 20th Neuroscience, created by four artists with a background in neuroscience and medicine, currently in development with by a range of associates. In these podcasts the creators of Brainland talk about the project and explore the historical background to those stories by speaking to academics and collaborators.

PODCAST 2: MESSAGES FROM ANOTHER WORLD

The second storyline in Brainland focusses on Professor Hans Berger, the German psychiatrist who, in the 1920s, discovered that the brain emits rhythmic electrical pulsations, the EEG. In this episode we hear about his personal doubts, struggle with the scientific establishment and final vindication, as the Nazis take power in his country.

Contributors:

Andrew Platman (librettist)

Ken Barrett (librettist/designer) http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/

Stephen Brown (composer) ( http://cornwallcomposers.com/stephen.htm

Musical extracts: Opening of Brainland scenes 2 and theme to accompany the discovery of the alpha rhythm.

The book mentioned in the podcast is Brainwaves: A cultural history of Electroencephalography, by Cornelius Borck. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-mono/10.4324/9781315569840/brainwaves-cultural-history-electroencephalography-cornelius-borck-ann-hentschel

Brainland the Podcast produced by Ken Barrett.

The image is from Brainland act 1, scene 2 - concept drawing in charcoal and chalk by Ken Barrett.

For the full score, libretto, story outline, designs, animations and more go to the opera website:

www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk

Click the link below for an animated prelude to Act 1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNNcslZ2Mnc

Contact: steve4cello@ gmail.com                              

[email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brainland is a new opera that interweaves three stories from the history of 20th Neuroscience, created by four artists with a background in neuroscience and medicine, currently in development with by a range of associates. In these podcasts the creators of Brainland talk about the project and explore the historical background to those stories by speaking to academics and collaborators.

PODCAST 4: MANHANDLING THE BRAIN

One of the storylines in Brainland concerns the two leading figures of the psychosurgery movement in the middle years of the last century: Egas Moniz and Walter Freeman. In this episode we learn more about them, the clinical and neuroscientific environment of the period. We also learn about a 200-year-old operating theatre in London that is hoping to host the first performance of this central story of the opera.

Contributors:

Dr Stephen Brown, composer http://cornwallcomposers.com/stephen.htm

Adrian Look, dancer, teacher choreographer, https://tanztheateradrianlook.com/creatives/

Dr Ken Barrett, research and design/librettist http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/

Dr Monica Walker. Engagement manager, Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret, London

 https://oldoperatingtheatre.com/

Musical extracts: Brainland Act 1, scenes 7 and 8. Composed by Stephen Brown, libretto by Andrew Platman, Ken Barrett & Heather Angus Leppan, sung by Jodie Li-Smith and Hester Dart & Leo Selleck (Morley alumni).

Brainland the Podcast produced by Ken Barrett and Bob Barrett.

To read more mid 20th century psychosurgery, including the UK experience, click on the link:

https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/members/faculties/neuropsychiatry/neuropsychiatry-january-2016.pdf?sfvrsn=875d7a1b_4 

For the full score, libretto, story outline, designs, animations and more go to the opera website:

www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk

Click this link below to see an animated prelude to Act 1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNNcslZ2Mnc

Image is of a diorama of Freeman and cadaver (act 2 scene1) made by Ken Barrett.

Contact: steve4cello@ gmail.com                              

[email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brainland is a new opera that interweaves three stories from the history of 20th Neuroscience, created by four artists with a background in neuroscience and medicine, currently in development with by a range of associates. In these podcasts the creators of Brainland explore the historical background to those stories by speaking to academics and collaborators.

PODCAST 2: TOPSY GOES TO NORWAY

The opera opens with four UK brain specialists led by physiologist William Grey Walter, arriving at a US Airforce base in Gloucestershire in 1957. They are enroute to Oslo where they will visit a US funded laboratory pioneering a controversial brain investigation and treatment. In this episode we explore the background of the visit.

Contributors:

Dr Andrew Platman, dramatist and retired GP.

Professor Phil Husbands, Research Professor of Artificial Intelligence, University of Sussex.

Dr Ken Barrett Visual artist, former Senior lecturer, Keele University and neuropsychiatrist.

Musical extracts: Prologue to Act 1 of Brainland.

Music by Stephen Brown, libretto by Andrew Platman, Ken Barrett & Heather Angus Leppan.

Brainland the Podcast produced by Ken Barrett and Bob Barrett.

To read more about the Norway trip and its' background click on the link:

Ken Barrett » writing 

For the full score, libretto, story outline, designs, animations and more go to the opera website:

www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk

Click the link below for an animated prelude to Act 1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNNcslZ2Mnc

The image is by Ken Barrett and based on a Soviet era collage.

Contact:

steve4cello@ gmail.com                             [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brainland is a new opera that interweaves three stories from the history of 20th Neuroscience, created by four artists with a background in neuroscience and medicine, in development with by a range of associates. In these podcasts the creators of Brainland talk about the project and explore the historical background to those stories by speaking to academics and collaborators.

INTRODUCING BRAINLAND

In this podcast the four artists who created Brainland talk about the origin of the project and their contributions. The four storylines, covered in detail in other episodes, are briefly outlined.

Contributors:

Tim Taylor, dancer, teacher; Programme manager for dance, Morley College, London.

Ken Barrett, research and design/librettist http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/                                      

Stephen Brown, composer. http://cornwallcomposers.com/stephen.htm

Heather Angus Leppan, poet (libretto)

Musical extracts: Act 1, Scene 7: Singers: Jodie Li-Smith and Hester Dart (Morley alumni)

For the full score, libretto, story outline, designs, animations and more go to the opera website:

www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk

Click the link below for an animated prelude to Act 1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNNcslZ2Mnc

Contact: steve4cello@ gmail.com                              [email protected]

Brainland the Podcast produced by Ken Barrett and Bob Barrett.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.