🎵 A Composer's Brain Writes Music Even After His Death
Composer Alvin Lucier passed away in 2021, but he still makes music. Or rather, a tiny "brain" grown from his cells is, thanks to a team of Australian neuroscientists and musicians.
The Revivification project began in 2018. In 2020, the then 89-year-old Lucier, who had Parkinson's disease, agreed to donate his blood for the experiment.
Scientists converted his blood cells into stem cells before using them to produce cerebral organoids. These clusters of neurons stimulate brain activity. Electrodes read signals from this mini-brain, which AI processes and transfers to small hammers that pound 20 curving brass plates suspended in a vast hall, filling the area with the late composer's "music."
What's remarkable is that the organoid doesn't just emit signals—it responds to ambient sound and adapts to it. "We're very curious to see whether the organoid will change or learn over time," says project co-creator and artist Guy Ben-Ary.
Alvin Lucier, an American, was a pioneer of experimental music. In 1965, he became the first to make music using brainwaves ⤴️ He researched the impact of sound on the human psyche, lectured at universities, and was involved in creative collectives.
Ben-Ary dreams that Lucier's grown brain will go on creating "new memories and stories" forever—a vision that Lucier's daughter Amanda says aligns with his own. "This is so my dad. Just before he died he arranged for himself to play for ever. He just can't go. He needs to keep playing», — Guy cites her as saying.
📺 Ben-Ary talks more about the project on YouTube, where you can also listen to Lucier's "posthumous music."
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