The project Sensory Cartographies is an ongoing collaboration between artists Sissel Marie Tonn and Jonathan Reus. In this project we explore the relationships between consciousness, body and environment, as mediated by the filtration mechanisms of the senses. We create worn instruments which rethink modes of collecting, categorizing and mapping from the perspective of the lived experience of a place.
The instruments are designed to challenge the body’s pre-configured modes of attention in a playful way. We see in them the potential to experience our surroundings differently, perceive the environment differently, and create an alternative cartography that is attentive to the continuous process of change that implicates relationships between body and environment. Some of them are “body extensions” that challenge the way the world is perceived by its wearer. Some are “meta sensors”, which use biometric measurement technologies that tap into the non-conscious and pre-conscious activity of the autonomic nervous system, such as electrodermal activity and cardiographs. These technologies make tangible this activity through sound and vibration.
