Performed by Art Lab interns at PlatteForum as an immersive happening in which visitor’s devices were taken away, people were encouraged to be bored by sitting in a waiting room to watch dry performances. Alpha waves are present when your brain is in an idling default-state, typically created when you’re daydreaming or consciously practicing meditation. Being in an alpha state is proven to increase creativity and useful for treating depression and relieving stress. As a society inundated by media and held captive by our cell phones, sometimes working several jobs to make ends meet, we rarely experience boredom or make time to daydream or stare at a wall without any objective. How does our health suffer as a result? This exhibit encouraged audience members to temporarily abandon their cell phones to a slow locomotive toy train, which in turn allows for the surrendering to “boredom.”
PlatteForum, 2018