Spectrum Dynamic art exhibit
Through September 2023
Located on the second floor Terrace Gallery
Many people with autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions practice stimming—repetitive movements that act as an outlet, a means of coping, and a release. Stimming may look like body-rocking, head-nodding, arm and hand-flapping, finger-tapping, or pacing. The works in Spectrum Dynamic use motion-capture technology to visualize unique and beautiful patterns from the stims of different individuals.
Artist Caleb Weintraub recorded the movements of people who stim and virtually rendered them into 3D sculptures that highlight the inherent rhythms and patterns of these stereotypies. The colors and textures are informed by participants’ descriptions of the function and feeling of stimming. For example, one individual compared her experience of turning in circles to the act of spinning a cocoon between herself and the world.
Spectrum Dynamic is a collaboration between artist Caleb Weintraub (Associate Professor, Indiana University), neuroscientist Dr. Dan Kennedy (Associate Professor, Indiana University), and the staff and students at CIP Bloomington, an agency that assists young people on the autism spectrum.
An initial body of work was part of (Re)imagining Science, an exhibition at the Grunwald Gallery of Art at Indiana University which featured collaborative projects by teams of researchers in the arts and sciences.
