NINA HARTMANN
Mind Control Image Connectivity (Maze B), 2024
Stainless steel, UV print on acrylic
47 x 25 7/16 x 3 in.
Copyright The Artist
Further images
Nina Hartmann’s work explores the 'operational image,” a concept developed by German filmmaker Harun Farocki, whereby an image serves a functional, rather than aesthetic, purpose. Inspired by the study of...
Nina Hartmann’s work explores the "operational image,” a concept developed by German filmmaker Harun Farocki, whereby an image serves a functional, rather than aesthetic, purpose. Inspired by the study of population control, Mind Control Image Connectivity (Maze B) (2024) places images taken from government and media surveillance behind movable metal bars creating a visual maze. By interrogating the forces of today’s multivalent society, the work contextualizes the shift in mass media from identity
idealization to parody.
“When the world and its institutions move in such mysterious ways, the human imagination dreams up connections that
make the lack of sense make sense. Nina Hartmann just picks up the visual language of that sense making.”
- Zarina Muhammad, Elephant Magazine
"During my time getting my MFA at Yale, I worked in the university archives. I’ve been particularly interested in clandestine histories about the bizarre and dark ties between universities and military/government funded or utilized research. Being familiar with the ties between MK Ultra’s involvement of LSD mind control/truth serum research at Harvard University, and Dr. Ewen Cameron’s (the mind behind Psychic Driving experiments) ties to McGill university, I dove into the archives trying to unearth similar programs at Yale. One of my most interesting discoveries was the work of Dr. Jose Delgado, a former neurophysiology professor at Yale who was conducting experiments exploring the field of mind control through electrical stimulation on the brain. It has been suggested that the US government is aware of and has possibly tried to co-opt some of Delgado’s mind control research for military technology, his work has also been referenced in official databases, but it's always hard to know for sure because of classified information.
The image (on the right) comes from a somewhat famous demonstration that Delgado held in Spain using his own stimoceiver invention. From wiki: “The most famous example of the stimoceiver in action occurred at a Córdoba bull breeding ranch. Rodríguez Delgado stepped into the ring with a bull which had had a stimoceiver implanted within its brain. The bull charged Delgado, who pressed a remote control button which caused the bull to stop its charge. Always one for theatrics, he taped this stunt and it can be seen today.”
A lot of my work explores themes of conspiracy or paranoia collapsing into reality. I’m really interested in these moments that seem too outlandish to be true, but end up being proven correct through Freedom of Information Act requests, whistleblowers, etc. I’m interested in trying to tap into collective anxieties within our zeitgeist, and this piece explores ideas (in a literal and allegorical sense) of the fear of mind control and losing our autonomy, which I think speaks to bigger collective anxieties about technology and power. Thematically, these fears are pretty relevant considering the development of Musk’s Neurolink, and other similar technologies. Delgado’s bizarre history hints at a looming Orwellian reality.
Referencing Dr. Delgado’s experiments and similar studies into fear conditioning and brain function manipulation, - The stainless steel sculpture is inspired by mazes used in scientific labs for purposes of behavioral studies and modification such as fear conditioning and memory studies through spatial learning in mice. The sculptures, drafted with a direct reference to the shape and function of these mazes, contain moving slots able to change into different variations as a functioning maze.
The other images are tied to this line of research, questioning, and networking: showing an image of a supposed Soviet mind control device from a WIRED article (now removed) without much supplemental information, and an image of government surveillance project ECHELON in the middle, which also has conspiratorial ties to government Mind Control.
I’m interested in how digital photographs can become modern iconography, and this piece very much explores this idea, as well as how the idea of “proof” or truthfulness within a photographic image changes with context and quality. This work acts as a diagram or map, a visual relic of my attempts to connect historical events and themes as part of my ongoing practice - existing in a space between myth and reality, and always hoping to uncover new personal truths through knowledge acquisition."
- Nina Hartmann
idealization to parody.
“When the world and its institutions move in such mysterious ways, the human imagination dreams up connections that
make the lack of sense make sense. Nina Hartmann just picks up the visual language of that sense making.”
- Zarina Muhammad, Elephant Magazine
"During my time getting my MFA at Yale, I worked in the university archives. I’ve been particularly interested in clandestine histories about the bizarre and dark ties between universities and military/government funded or utilized research. Being familiar with the ties between MK Ultra’s involvement of LSD mind control/truth serum research at Harvard University, and Dr. Ewen Cameron’s (the mind behind Psychic Driving experiments) ties to McGill university, I dove into the archives trying to unearth similar programs at Yale. One of my most interesting discoveries was the work of Dr. Jose Delgado, a former neurophysiology professor at Yale who was conducting experiments exploring the field of mind control through electrical stimulation on the brain. It has been suggested that the US government is aware of and has possibly tried to co-opt some of Delgado’s mind control research for military technology, his work has also been referenced in official databases, but it's always hard to know for sure because of classified information.
The image (on the right) comes from a somewhat famous demonstration that Delgado held in Spain using his own stimoceiver invention. From wiki: “The most famous example of the stimoceiver in action occurred at a Córdoba bull breeding ranch. Rodríguez Delgado stepped into the ring with a bull which had had a stimoceiver implanted within its brain. The bull charged Delgado, who pressed a remote control button which caused the bull to stop its charge. Always one for theatrics, he taped this stunt and it can be seen today.”
A lot of my work explores themes of conspiracy or paranoia collapsing into reality. I’m really interested in these moments that seem too outlandish to be true, but end up being proven correct through Freedom of Information Act requests, whistleblowers, etc. I’m interested in trying to tap into collective anxieties within our zeitgeist, and this piece explores ideas (in a literal and allegorical sense) of the fear of mind control and losing our autonomy, which I think speaks to bigger collective anxieties about technology and power. Thematically, these fears are pretty relevant considering the development of Musk’s Neurolink, and other similar technologies. Delgado’s bizarre history hints at a looming Orwellian reality.
Referencing Dr. Delgado’s experiments and similar studies into fear conditioning and brain function manipulation, - The stainless steel sculpture is inspired by mazes used in scientific labs for purposes of behavioral studies and modification such as fear conditioning and memory studies through spatial learning in mice. The sculptures, drafted with a direct reference to the shape and function of these mazes, contain moving slots able to change into different variations as a functioning maze.
The other images are tied to this line of research, questioning, and networking: showing an image of a supposed Soviet mind control device from a WIRED article (now removed) without much supplemental information, and an image of government surveillance project ECHELON in the middle, which also has conspiratorial ties to government Mind Control.
I’m interested in how digital photographs can become modern iconography, and this piece very much explores this idea, as well as how the idea of “proof” or truthfulness within a photographic image changes with context and quality. This work acts as a diagram or map, a visual relic of my attempts to connect historical events and themes as part of my ongoing practice - existing in a space between myth and reality, and always hoping to uncover new personal truths through knowledge acquisition."
- Nina Hartmann
Exhibitions
"The Boys Club," Curated by Cortney Connolly, at Susan Inglett Gallery, NYC. 5 December 2024 - 25 January 2025.1
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