Joel S. Kollin - Bio and Statement
Bio
Joel S. Kollin is a PhD student at DXARTS - the Digital Art and Experimental Media program at the University of Washington. His past stints in academia include a BSE in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan and a Master’s from the MIT Media Lab, where he built the world’s first holographic video system for his thesis project. As a research engineer at the UW Human Interface Technology Lab he co-invented the Virtual Retinal Display. He has also worked on holographic instumentation, head-mounted and stereographic displays, and other forms of 2D and 3D imaging.
His areas of artistic interest include new display paradigms beyond “3D TV”, investigating how observation changes the state of macroscopic systems, and examining the interplay between surveillance, empathy and the Other. In addition to using advanced optical and imaging technology in his work, he frequently incorporates sound and more unusual modes of sensory interaction, such has tactile stimulation and proprioception.
Statement
My work centers primarily on how the sense of identity is created through the perception of self and other(s). Metaphysically the self has been described as the images we present to others, a soul trapped in a body, or an illusion created by our desires and attachments. Perception plays the formative role in the development of self from early childhood, but it never really stops. We can assume that we have an identity formed from past experience, and that experience is either largely or totally determined by perception, which in itself mediated by past experience and image of our selves and others based on the social contexts that surround us. The current age of mass commoditized communications has given us an enormous amount of shared context, but it also conditions our perception in a subtle but pernicious way that can undermine our connection to world and to each other.
Empathy and Identity
Clearly we empathize with those who we identify with. This also takes place with nonhuman mammals and through metaphor, even inanimate objects. The construction of identity is key in this process, so it might be considered a substrate that ties us together to each other and to the rest of our existence. Our identity is constructed from associations and to a large extent the differences and similarities we perceive and process between others and ourselves.
Possibly due to my work with the visual system, I use vision as a metaphor and method for human contact, giving us a deeper appreciation of ourselves, and the way we relate to the world. Seeing how others seeing ourselves can give us a sense of understanding and connectedness to the larger whole, and our brains are hard-wired to recognize eye contact as a cognitive/emotional link between minds. The focus of gaze indicates the immediate state of the conscious mind, while the continual movement of the eye reflects the constant churning of the totality of the brain, the proverbial 90% of the iceberg.
This is not to say that my work is based on vision science; but it is a potent means to the end of breaking the wall of objectification we place on media and on video images in particular. To the extent I am still interested in 3D imaging it is primarily a means to similarly get past the reflexive recognition that characterizes the vast majority of perception in our society. Recently I have started a new series of works (Contextures) that are designed to subvert our overdeveloped sense of visual recognition while allowing for a meditative free association of internal imagery.