Artist Statement: “12 Minutes of Thinking” is a conceptual artwork integrating references to two of Drue Kataoka’s technological artworks, namely TouchOurFuture.org & The Tree of Pascal, into a full-scale playing piano. “12 Minutes of Thinking” is a musical performance of over 100 brainwave recordings from the original score of “The Tree of Pascal,” transcribed in the form of reflective circles on top of the piano lid, and reflecting the brainwave intensity in a 12-minute excerpt. The visual baseline is set by derivative images from Drue’s TouchOurFuture.org, showcasing hands of mothers, babies & activists, as well as suns, from all over the world. “The Tree of Pascal” is a collaboration among 100+ brains from all over the world to keep a small tree alive. It is an artwork, but also a digitally-enabled ecosystem. It leverages modern technologies, such as EEG, electrochromic glass, and digital signal processing, but is rooted in the haunting words of a 17th century French mathematician & philosopher. “The Tree of Pascal” is an artwork that is so flexible that everybody can find a place in it, both literally and metaphorically. It takes viewers on a search for their own Tree of Pascal, which they want to nurture with mental energies. More on “Tree of Pascal” can be found here [http://www.drue.net/art-tree-of-pascal.htm] TouchOurFuture.org is a web and mobile interactive art installation. The goal of the artwork is, through participation, to raise awareness for infant mortality and insight into the similar yet different experiences of global motherhood. Leaders across disciplines have participated in the artwork by each lending their hand trace including: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Muhammad Yunus, & sixteen other Nobel Peace Prize laureates and heads of Nobel Peace Prize winning organizations, Chelsea Clinton, Crown Princess of Norway Mette-Marit, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Stella McCartney, Christy Turlington, Heidi Klum, Meghan Trainor, Arianna Huffington & many more. These hand tracings are featured alongside those of mothers and babies from 14 developing countries collected in collaboration with Embrace Innovations.
Artist Drue Kataoka creates at the crossroads of art and technology. Having integrated ancient Japanese brush painting techniques with brainwave installations, mirrors, and even time dilation, her work spans disciplines. In 2008, she created art for the first art exhibit in zero gravity at the International Space Station. Kataoka was named a Cultural Leader and Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, & invited to give a solo exhibition at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos. Her recent work has been featured on CNN, CBS, ABC, FoxNews, Wall Street Journal, Barrons, Wired Magazine and others. She is a recipient of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research & Education Institute’s award for social service, and is a co-founder of Aboomba (www.aboomba.com), the platform for Intelligent Style. Kataoka is a graduate of Stanford University.
