Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1996 - 19

plishing tllis in a tiny instant. Scientists call this
the "binding problem."
Consciousness is probably based on short
term memory and is associated with attention.
Consider how qUickly we forget a telephone
number. We look up a number, dial the phone
and then if we need to redial a few moments
later, we look up the number again. Attention
includes not only being aware but also being
able to narrow that awareness, as in, for exanlple, proof reading. Some people are good
proof readers while others, perfectly able to
read, struggle to see missing letters or typos. 18
As scientists discover more of how neurons
work, we may gain more control over the
means of focusing attention. At present, theatre
artists use various precepts learned in school
or by experience to control where audiences
look. Unscientifically practicing the equivalent
of folk medicine informed by old wive's tales,
we're often surprised by what we see on stage.
We too often play it safe by contrasting costumes and sets to a greater degree than may be
necessary. Unaware of the complexity of the visual system and its relation to other sense pel~
ceptions, we don't realize that the brain is
probably capable of focusing attention in a
more subtle way than we give it credit for.
Although scientists working to discover
how our brains work take many different
tacks, they agree on one major difficulty. They
use a term from philosophy, "qualia," to describe those personal perceptions wllich wiU
be hard to evaluate. 19 Do we all see color in the
sanle way or does each of us see a different
red? How can we measure the degree of pain
felt by one person as compared to the pain of
another? Differences in perception are equally
problematic for artists tlying to communicate
to an audience. Unless we throw up our hands
and accept a relativistic view that everything
that is understood is equally valid, even though
it is one hundred eighty degrees from what we
intend, we struggle constantly to find a precise
visual vocabulaly accessible to the widest audience. We cease to communicate if we have any
other goal. The qualia of our visual percep-

te
Theatrical Spaces for Scientists
In La JoUa, a suburb of San Diego, two dramatic buildings house researchers who are investigating how tile mind works. The Salk Institute, designed by Louis Kahn 25 years ago, is respected as
a masterpiece of modern arcllitecture. Nobel Laureate Franc.is Crick, co-discoverer of the
double helix, heads a research unit at Salk and from his office, once occupied by the late Jacob
Bronowski, looks out on tile sea and one of tile world's noblest architectural spaces. The courtyard of tile Salk Institute cries out for a production of a classic play. Its scale and proportions are
deceptively simple and its site, witll a ribbon of water seeming to disappear into tile Pacific
Ocean, gives it a degree of tIleatricaiity seldom seen on stage.
Half a mile away, tile Neurosciences Institute has just moved into a new complex of
buildings which in tIleir own way, are equally dramatic. "'11i1e tile Salk faces tile sea, tile Neurosciences Institute looks eastward toward tile desert and mountains of Soutllern California. Architects Tod Williams Billie Tsien & Associates pay homage to Louis Kahn's building by repeating llis
use of concrete walls with exposed bolt holes and echoing tile Salk's water image, include a
small fountain \vith an optical illusion, which makes water appear to run up llill. While Kahn's
courtyard is formal and symmetrical, tllis courtyard is informal, but also theatrical. Adifferent
style of production could be mounted in tIlis courtyard. Gerald Edelman, the obellaureate who
heads the Institute, is also a classical violinist. When he learned tIlat an additional hundred tlJOusand doUars could ntrn the Instintte's lecture hall into an acoustically viable concert hall, he
hired Cyril Harris as a consultant. Good tllings are possible when science and all become paIwers.

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1996