(Text from APdC News, March 2019)

Within the framework of the “Biennial of Science and City” (Biennal de Ciència i Ciutat), which was held in Barcelona during the months of February and March, art, dance and science joined in a activity open to everyone in the Palau de la Música of Barcelona.

During the presentation of “Serendipity: A journey through neuron inspiration and creativity” (Serendipitat: Un viatge per la neuroinspiració i la creativitat) scientists, painters, dancers and musicians used to explain to the audience what is understood by serendipity – a subtle mix between chance and determination that something happens – and how neurobiology it can be a source of inspiration for art.

In this trip for neurology and creativity, we spoke and experienced with neuron inspired systems, and discussed the mysterious biological reason for art. The public was able to enter into mysterious operation of the brain through images and small scientific pills in a magical show of light and sound.

A total of 13 people between artists and scientists from the Research Group of Media Technologies (La Salle-Ramon Lull University), the Research Group of Cellular and Systems Neurobiology (Centre for Genomic Regulation/CRG), the Composition/Classical and Contemporary Music Department (Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya/ESMUC) and Starlab Living Science, went on stage to demonstrate this serendipity and their possibilities.

In the case of dance, Bea Langa, PhD student of MML-MTG Research Group-Pompeu Fabra University, contemporary dancer and psychologist, danced with a brain-computer interface device that consisted of a helmet with electrodes. Thus, while dancing, her movement, thoughts and emotions transformed into colours that were projected on stage. They taught kinesthesis systems, such as Musical Vision, a technology that generates music from images, or Colored Music, which give colour to the sounds, as well as other projects.