Carving Out Creativity

Discover how creative bodies and brains connect while making art

Embodying Beyond Boundaries, an Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology supported interdisciplinary team of engineers, neuroscientists, and artists will connect Virginia Tech’s Innovation and Blacksburg campuses, and the communities of Roanoke and Alexandria—expanding how we create and experience art and technology. Focusing on stone carving, and using advanced electroencephalography (EEG) technology, researchers captured carvers' brain waves as they transformed stone into sculpture.

Through detailed brain activity analysis, insights were gained into how different stages of sculpting affect neural processes—particularly in communities of artists working together. From this rich dataset, the team has created an engaging experience exploring the intricate dance between physical creation and neural activity.

The quad-co-located art installation immerses viewers in connected worlds of the artist's studio and the creative brain: Projections composed of dynamic visualizations of brain activity, video documentation of local stone carvers, and 3-D scans of carved stones fill the walls, while an interactive centerpiece invites viewers to touch carved sculptures and interact across distance with digital versions of sculptures at the other sites. Immersive audio fills the space, consisting of brain activity sonification and spatialized sound recordings.

More details about the project can be found on the project page.

Dates and locations

Join us for this fascinating exhibition that blurs the lines between creator and observer, between intimacy and distance, and where art becomes a shared, evolving experience grounded in the science of the human brain.

Feb 27, 2025 - Live Demo at all 4 Locations: 6:00 pm-8:00 pm (Innovation Campus invitation only, all others open to the public)

Feb 28, 2025 - Live Demo at all 4 Locations: 11:30 am-4:00 pm - open to the public

Innovation Campus

Washington, D.C. (Connected to Blacksburg)

• Feb. 27 and 28, 2025: live Demonstration (only the 28 is open to the public)
• Feb. 25, 2025: media tour and demo
• Mar. 1 to May 18, 2025: Installation (open to the public)

Point of contact: Lisa McNair

Cube, Moss Arts Center

Blacksburg, Va. (Connected to D.C.)

• Feb. 27, 2025: Live demonstration (open to the public)
• Feb. 28, 2025: Live demonstration (open to the public)

Point of contact: Gustavo Araoz

Taubman Museum of Art

Roanoke, Va. (Connected to Alexandria, Va.)

• Feb. 27 and 28, 2025: Live demonstration (open to the public)
• Feb. 27 to May 18, 2025: Installation (open to the public)

Point of contact: Gustavo Araoz

Torpedo Factory

Alexandria, Va. (Connected to Roanoke, Va.)

• Feb. 1 to May 18, 2025: Installation (open to the public)
• Feb. 27 and 28, 2025: Live demonstration (open to the public)

Point of contact: Tanner Upthegrove