The Sleep Lab

Långström Minna

Built to resemble an expo stand, this installation invites viewers to closely monitor the sleep stages and sleeping rhythms of people sleeping in a fully functional sleeping laboratory. But this sleep lab offers an unusual feature: it shows the sleepers’ dreams on a video screen. The dreams are based on video diaries recorded by the sleepers themselves prior to the sleep sessions. In the installation, a video mixing program is connected to a real-time sleep stage detector. Using state-of-the-art sleep analysis technology, the signals received from the sleeper's brain directly affect the nature of the dream video. 

Production Year
2006
Tyyppi
Asiasana
Original Title
Unilaboratorio
Finnish Title
Unilaboratorio
English Title
The Sleep Lab
Production Countries
Finland
Dialogue
No
Sound
No
Cast
Minna Långström (Author), VIRTA productions (Producer), Suomen Kulttuurirahasto (Funder), AVEK (Funder), Juha Vehviläinen (Programming), Jussi Virkkala (Programming), Finlayson (Support), Jussi Vuorela / ResMed (Support), Ambu OY (Support)
Press Photos
Långström is a media artist and filmmaker. Her artistic work consists of films – short fiction and documentary – as well as cinematic installations, combining moving images with spatial elements. Her work processes tend to be extensive, well researched and interdisciplinary. Her work focuses on social perspectives on technologically mediated narratives and visual technologies, as well as certain political histories and their cinematic influences on the present. The intuitive experience and role of the viewer is a central aspect of her installations.