Exhibition Room 1, Photo: Wolfgang Günzel
BLINDHÆD is the first multi-media artwork featuring event cameras. Event-based vision is a novel
computer vision technique in which the imaging sensor only responds to local changes in brightness.
Event cameras only react to movement in their visual field. Thereby, they produce radically
different, otherworldly imagery that offers a novel artistic interpretation of vision itself.
Exhibition Room 2, Photo: Wolfgang Günzel
BLINDHÆD is the first institutional solo exhibition of Justin Urbach, which is currently on display
at the Galerie Stadt
Sindelfingen, Germany, until May 25, 2025. Historically, human sight has been
subject to optimization - from glasses to microscopes and telescopes. BLINDHÆD explores this ongoing
transformation of seeing in a world increasingly shaped by technology and body enhancement.
The first exhibition room presents an artistic rendering of laser eye surgery, while the second room
symbolizes the post-enhancement sense of seeing. In room two, event-based vision serves as a
metaphor for this
transformation: abstract forms emerge from a sea of pixels on a large 2 * 1,2-meter monitor wall,
representing a human navigating a new perceptual reality. The human interplay with a robotic arm
further illustrates the merging of human and machine, depicting a haunting yet emotional symbiosis.
The artwork paints an outlook into the continuation of the constant trend of technological
enhancement of our senses. Elements in the exhibition, such as the engraved laser etchings on the
surface of the monitors, allude to the irreversibility of such enhancements, further reinforcing our
technological dependency.
3D Rendering "through the cracks" in Room 1, 2024
BLINDHÆD is an inter-disciplinary collaboration between artists and researchers. The media artist
Justin Urbach
(*1995, Academy of Fine Arts Munich) teams up with scientists from TU Berlin's Robotic
Interactive Perception group (PhD Student Friedhelm Hamann and Prof.
Guillermo Gallego) and the
Robotics and Biology Lab (PhD Student Alexander Koenig and Prof. Oliver Brock). The Berlin-based duo
Aqua Veen (William East
and Alexander
Koenig) creates an immersive soundscape for the event-based
video installation: computer vision algorithms extract shapes from the event video stream and
control synthesizers to create an immersive and reactive sonic dimension of the futuristic visual
signals.
Event-Based Video "BLIND SPOT" in Room 2, 2025
In BLINDHÆD, vision is no longer static or purely human. It is optimized, expanded, and intertwined
with technology. The exhibition invites reflection on the limits of perception and the speculative
future of seeing. By bringing BLINDHÆD to CVPR 2025, we continue this dialogue in the scientific
community, questioning the
implications of a world where machines not only assist but redefine how we perceive.
Our
collaborators Friedhelm and Guillermo are hosting the Workshop on
Event-Based Vision at CVPR once
more this year. The workshop will be a fabulous scientific counterpart to the display of BLINDHÆD.
Oxide Crude Steel Laser Punching "BRAIN ROT II", 2024
BLINDHÆD consists of two central video installations, the one showing the laser surgery and the
event-based video stream. The laser-etched screens are integral to the artwork and convey important
messages. However, we are certainly open to showing our two videos on regular monitors or, if
possible, on larger projections. Since both videos feature reactive sound, it would be great if we
could use two speaker systems or headphones. The exhibition also includes further installation
elements, such as a Cathode Ray Tube, lasers, and oxide crude steel laser punchings shown in the
images. We propose not shipping those to simplify logistics, but we are delighted to discuss this
after the decision.
Friedhelm will attend CVPR since he as an accepted paper.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
The BLINDHÆD team.
For inquiries about BLINDHÆD, please contact us via E-Mail at awckoenig@gmail.com.