Fondazione Prada explores the inner workings of the human brain
Now on display at the 59th Venice Biennale.
In 2018 Fondazione Prada embarked on a journey to fully understand the human brain. Working with a team of researchers in neuroscience, the Foundation has examined the perplexity in our minds and is currently presenting the results obtained through a multi-level work exhibition at the 59th Venice Biennale.
Miuccia Prada, President of the Fondazione Prada, opens the exhibition by asking herself: “how do you create an exhibition on ideas and knowledge?” Spread over three floors, curator Udo Kittelmann and Taryn Simon present a series of works spanning neurobiology, philosophy, psychology, neurochemistry, linguistics, artificial intelligence and robotics.
On the first floor of the Foundation, visitors will be able to admire photos and video installations that show how the brain develops and works. On the first two floors are exposed archival objects that show how man has always been interested in understanding the mind, from the forgotten chapters of Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt to the Italian Renaissance, the Japanese Edo period, and the latest imaging technology.
Perhaps alluding to the brain itself, Simon presents The Conversation Machine, a series of videos shown through 32 monitors in a dark and disturbing room with 36 neuroscientists, psychologists, neurolinguistics, and philosophers worldwide. Created in collaboration with Fondazione Prada, the Foundation stated in a press release that the self-organization system responds to itself, continuously building and assimilating its order and disorder, as participants seem to listen and respond to each other’s statements. The mentioned elements flash briefly in front of the screen and transform from silence to sudden stimulation.
“Human Brains: It Begins with an Idea” is on display at Fondazione Prada Venice until 27 November 2022.
Fondazione
PradaCalle Corner, 2215,30135 Venice VE, Italy
