Perpetual Motion
(Grid Cell Carpet)
2021, Custom made wool carpet, 350x350 cm (Edition of 5)
Michael Whittle
Grid cell diagrams courtesy of May Britt and Edvard Moser
(Grid Cell Carpet)
2021, Custom made wool carpet, 350x350 cm (Edition of 5)
Michael Whittle
Grid cell diagrams courtesy of May Britt and Edvard Moser
About the Artwork:
This carpet design is based upon the distinctive, geometric, firing pattern of ‘Grid Cells’, first recorded in the brains of rats exploring an experimental test box in the laboratories of May Britt and Edvard Moser. Grid cells form part of the so called GPS system of the brain, allowing us to generate cognitive spatial maps of the spaces we explore and inhabit. These cells are located in the entorhinal cortex, a region deep within the brain next to the hippocampus, a crucial structure in the brain involved in the formation, organization, and retrieval of memories.
The work of the Mosers and their mentor John O’ Keefe revealed profound connections between the way we navigate space and construct memories of our surroundings, and together they were awarded the joint Nobel prize for Physiology and Medicine in 2012. As visitors walk across the Grid cell carpet, the coloured symbolic markings on it’s surface mirror the microscopic neuronal processes occurring within their brains, as they sense their location and create new memories.
This carpet design is based upon the distinctive, geometric, firing pattern of ‘Grid Cells’, first recorded in the brains of rats exploring an experimental test box in the laboratories of May Britt and Edvard Moser. Grid cells form part of the so called GPS system of the brain, allowing us to generate cognitive spatial maps of the spaces we explore and inhabit. These cells are located in the entorhinal cortex, a region deep within the brain next to the hippocampus, a crucial structure in the brain involved in the formation, organization, and retrieval of memories.
The work of the Mosers and their mentor John O’ Keefe revealed profound connections between the way we navigate space and construct memories of our surroundings, and together they were awarded the joint Nobel prize for Physiology and Medicine in 2012. As visitors walk across the Grid cell carpet, the coloured symbolic markings on it’s surface mirror the microscopic neuronal processes occurring within their brains, as they sense their location and create new memories.
Michael WHITTLE
Michael Whittle is an artist and researcher specializing in Diagrammatology, the study of diagrams. He previously qualification and training as a Biomedical Scientist, before changing subject to study fine art. His artistic practice incorporates images, ideas, and data from science, as well as dialogues with scientists about their research interests and motivations. Recent projects include ‘Butterfly on the Sun’, a large-scale installation for the 2022 Changwon Sculpture Biennale developed in consultation with astrophysicist David Hathaway of NASA’s Ames Research Center. In 2023, Whittle co-founded ‘Pollen’ with artist-technologist Atticus Sims, an AI-powered creative studio in Kyoto, Japan. He is currently Associate Professor of Contemporary Art in the Department of Art and Design at the University of Macau.
Michael Whittle is an artist and researcher specializing in Diagrammatology, the study of diagrams. He previously qualification and training as a Biomedical Scientist, before changing subject to study fine art. His artistic practice incorporates images, ideas, and data from science, as well as dialogues with scientists about their research interests and motivations. Recent projects include ‘Butterfly on the Sun’, a large-scale installation for the 2022 Changwon Sculpture Biennale developed in consultation with astrophysicist David Hathaway of NASA’s Ames Research Center. In 2023, Whittle co-founded ‘Pollen’ with artist-technologist Atticus Sims, an AI-powered creative studio in Kyoto, Japan. He is currently Associate Professor of Contemporary Art in the Department of Art and Design at the University of Macau.
May-Britt MOSER:
May-Britt Moser FRS is a Norwegian psychologist and neuroscientist, and a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). She and her former husband, Edvard Moser, shared half of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, with their former mentor John O’Keefe, for their work concerning grid cells in the entorhinal cortex, as well as several additional space-representing cell types in the same
circuit that make up the positioning system in the brain. May-Britt is founding codirector, with Edvard Moser, of the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience in 2007, the Centre for Neural Computation, in 2013, and the Centre for Algorithms in the Cortex in 2023.
May-Britt Moser FRS is a Norwegian psychologist and neuroscientist, and a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). She and her former husband, Edvard Moser, shared half of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, with their former mentor John O’Keefe, for their work concerning grid cells in the entorhinal cortex, as well as several additional space-representing cell types in the same
circuit that make up the positioning system in the brain. May-Britt is founding codirector, with Edvard Moser, of the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience in 2007, the Centre for Neural Computation, in 2013, and the Centre for Algorithms in the Cortex in 2023.
Edvard MOSER:
Norwegian psychologist and neuroscientist Edvard Moser researches how spatial location and spatial memory are computed in the brain. His work, conducted with his long-time collaborator May-Britt Moser, includes the discovery of grid cells in the entorhinal cortex, which provides the first clues for a neural mechanism for how the brain maps our environment. For these discoveries he shared half of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with May-Britt Moser, and his previous mentor John O’Keefe. Edvard Moser is currently professor or Neuroscience at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), and founding codirector, with May- Britt, of the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience in 2007, the Centre for Neural Computation, in 2013, and the Centre for Algorithms in the Cortex in 2023.
Norwegian psychologist and neuroscientist Edvard Moser researches how spatial location and spatial memory are computed in the brain. His work, conducted with his long-time collaborator May-Britt Moser, includes the discovery of grid cells in the entorhinal cortex, which provides the first clues for a neural mechanism for how the brain maps our environment. For these discoveries he shared half of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with May-Britt Moser, and his previous mentor John O’Keefe. Edvard Moser is currently professor or Neuroscience at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), and founding codirector, with May- Britt, of the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience in 2007, the Centre for Neural Computation, in 2013, and the Centre for Algorithms in the Cortex in 2023.
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