Aim: To create participatory experiences that make investigating thought widely accessible – enabling people to discover what lies beyond the senses, opening a doorway to deeper inquiry.
Objectives:
- Build and test the ThoughtCounter website – a 60-second investigation into counting thoughts; refining based on what supports noticing and insight.
- Explore different physical forms for ThoughtCounter – testing how installation spaces and objects can also create conditions for noticing.
- Create visuals and user experiences that make this investigation culturally accessible – using modern design to appeal to audiences who may dismiss traditional meditation or spiritual practice.
- Document experiences rather than data – tracking when insight happens, how people describe it, what patterns emerge and whether participants express desire for deeper inquiry.
- Document how the ThoughtCounter methodology could expand to other aggregates (body sensation, emotion, perception) in future development.
Context
Historical context – Five Aggregates framework
The Five Aggregates are a 2,500-year-old framework from Buddhist philosophy for investigating conscious experience: form (body sensation), feeling (emotion), perception, mental formations (thought), and consciousness. They are a practical method for investigation, not a religious belief system.
The framework shows what we mistake for “self” is actually a collection of changing processes – thoughts come and go, emotions shift, sensations change. None of these are permanent or the actual self. By watching them arise and fall away, what remains becomes clear: awareness itself, that which witnesses everything but cannot be sensed or measured.
Tantric philosophy notes, “one cannot be aware of Awareness unless Awareness is momentarily posited as an object of contemplation.”
Scientific validation
Modern neuroscience and ancient yogic philosophy agree on something fundamental. Neither the self nor our perception is as solid as it seems. Neuroscientist Anil Seth describes perception as “controlled hallucination” – our brains actively construct what we experience rather than simply recording reality. Yogic traditions have taught this for thousands of years. This work aims to create conditions for people to discover this through direct experience.
Why is it important
This recognition creates distance from automatic patterns. When you see thoughts as passing events rather than fixed truths, their grip loosens. Over time, this distance reduces reactivity and suffering – not by eliminating thoughts or emotions, but by changing the relationship to them.
A single moment of noticing may not change behaviour on its own, but it can be the first step that opens a doorway for further exploration. Working backwards from meaningful behavioural change, the steps might look something like this:
- Notice you have thoughts (ThoughtCounter)
- Notice thoughts are automatic
- Notice thoughts are impermanent
- Notice the gap between thoughts
- Notice what observes thoughts
- Sustained practice and integration
Why accessibility matters
These investigations currently exist within spiritual frameworks (Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta, Dzogchen) or require meditation practice. However, the religious language and even the “mindfulness” label can turn people away before they try. The investigative methods work and can profoundly benefit our lives, but the cultural framing makes them unappealing to younger generations and anyone skeptical of spiritual practice.
What’s needed is an alternative – a genuine contemplative inquiry delivered through simple modern design that appeals to people who have no inclination to attend a meditation class. This work aims to make the investigations widely accessible through participatory art without losing their depth.
Related artists – methodology
Several artists have explored consciousness, perception, and measurement, but with fundamentally different approaches:
- Marina Abramović (Measuring the Magic of Mutual Gaze, 2012) uses EEG technology to measure brain synchronization during meditation-based performance, but the measurement remains a passive observation of the artist’s states rather than active participant investigation.
- David Carson & Thijs Biersteker (Mind Over Matter, 2018) create brainwave-controlled installations where viewers’ collective mental states affect shared visualisations, but participants simply observe their passive brain activity rather than actively investigating their consciousness.
What makes this work distinct: Unlike passive observation or guided meditation, participants must actively investigate – attempting the task themselves and discovering what it reveals. The work doesn’t deliver information about thought – it creates conditions for direct experience of it. Multiple formats (digital, physical) enable the work to reach wider audiences across different contexts.
Related artists – design
Several artists use light and space to shift experience:
- Light and Space artists (James Turrell, Robert Irwin, Doug Wheeler) create immersive environments using light to heighten perceptual awareness – key references for developing the installation design.
- Bruce Nauman uses narrow corridors and lighting to physically unsettle visitors through spatial design.
- Ann Veronica Janssens uses fog and coloured light to disorient visitors, making the act of seeing itself become noticeable.
- Olafur Eliasson creates installations that make you aware of your own seeing (“seeing yourself seeing”), but focuses on how perception works rather than who or what is perceiving.
What makes this work distinct: Any installation space would need to feel accessible to people who would dismiss traditional meditation settings. Like the Matrimandir – a meditation space in Auroville, India – the design should remove cultural barriers while supporting contemplation through the space itself.
Participatory art context
Claire Bishop identifies how most interactive art creates shallow engagement – “audience as paintbrush.” ThoughtCounter requires genuine investigation, focusing participants on their own consciousness rather than social performance or serving the artwork.
Methodology
Practical methods
- Build and test ThoughtCounter website through iterative cycles – design, test with small groups (10-20 people), refine based on feedback
- Test physical formats (installation spaces, objects) exploring how each format creates conditions for noticing – ThoughtCounter as multiple “behaviours of work” rather than one definitive form
- Document potential expansion to other aggregates (body sensation, emotion, perception) – outlining how the methodology could adapt to different domains of experience
Theory informing practice
- Five aggregates provide systematic framework – showing how investigating thought can extend to comprehensive investigation of conscious experience
- Personal meditation practice (2+ hours daily) functions as primary research – testing each investigation myself first, learning what works in ways theory alone can’t reveal
- Success is creating conditions where noticing and insight occur, not achieving engagement metrics or aesthetic impact
Documentation and tracking
- Blog – ongoing documentation on process, key insights, decisions and influences
- Participant feedback – qualitative responses describing experiences, moments of noticing, what conditions worked
- Monthly reviews – tracking progress against key objectives, adjusting the approach based on what’s working
Outcomes
Year 1 (March 2026 show)
- Live ThoughtCounter website
- Physical presence in gallery context (format TBD based on available resources and testing)
- Initial participant feedback and responses
- Documentation of what works in translating the digital experience to physical space
Year 1 continued (April – June 2026)
- Refined website based on March feedback
- Expanded user base – gathering responses from wider, more diverse participants
- Exploration of how to share/promote the work to reach people beyond the immediate art context
Year 2 (October 2026 – June 2027)
- Physical manifestations of ThoughtCounter – testing different “behaviours of work”:
- Installation space design and testing
- Potential physical object/interface exploration
- Bringing together digital and physical approaches
- Final presentation combining web-based and installation experiences
Final deliverables
- Functioning website accessible globally
- Physical installation prototype (format TBD based on Year 2 development)
- Comprehensive documentation of methodology – what creates conditions for noticing across different formats
- Evidence that the work successfully makes contemplative investigation accessible to audiences who would dismiss traditional meditation
Work plan
YEAR 1
Term 2: January – March 2026 (Weeks 11-20)
- Weeks 11-16: Website refinements, preparation for March demonstration
- Week 17-18: March 2026 show/demo
- Weeks 19-20: Gather feedback, document learnings from physical/digital interaction
Term 3: April – June 2026 (Weeks 21-30)
- Weeks 21-24: Implement website improvements based on March feedback
- Weeks 25-28: Expand participant base, test promotional strategies
- Weeks 29-30: Document Year 1 process and findings, plan Year 2 direction
YEAR 2
Term 1: October – December 2026 (Weeks 31-40)
- Weeks 31-34: Begin physical installation exploration – spatial design research
- Weeks 35-38: Prototype and test installation format
- Weeks 39-40: Reflect and refine approach
Term 2: January – March 2027 (Weeks 41-50)
- Weeks 41-44: Physical object/interface exploration (if pursuing)
- Weeks 45-48: Review what worked across digital and physical formats
- Weeks 49-50: Prepare final presentation approach
Term 3: April – June 2027 (Weeks 51-60)
- Weeks 51-54: Final exhibition/presentation preparation
- Weeks 55-57: Install and present work
- Weeks 58-60: Final documentation, completion
Bibliography
Primary Research
- Farid, Mark. Discussion on immersive experiential art and participant investigation. February 2026.
- Personal meditation practice and direct instruction from my meditation teacher. 2023-present.
- Meditation retreat workshop: The Five Aggregates. Tiruvannamalai, India. January 2026.
- Site visit: Matrimandir meditation chamber. Auroville, India. January 2026.
Philosophy & Contemplative Traditions
- Analayo, Bhikkhu. Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization. Cambridge: Windhorse Publications, 2003.
- Hartranft, Chip. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Shambala, 2003.
- Kufayev, Igor. Kundalini, The Goddess as the Power of Self-Recognition in Tantric Saivism. Song Publishing, 2026.
Neuroscience & Consciousness Studies
- Chalmers, David J. The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory. Oxford University Press, 1996.
- Seth, Anil. Being You: A New Science of Consciousness. London: Faber & Faber, 2021.
- Seth, Anil K. “Interoceptive inference, emotion, and the embodied self.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 17.11 (2013): 565-573.
Participatory Art & Contemporary Practice
- Bourriaud, Nicolas. Relational Aesthetics. Les Presse Du Reel, 1998.
- Bishop, Claire. Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship. London: Verso, 2012.
- Bishop, Claire (ed.). Participation. Documents of Contemporary Art series. London: Whitechapel Gallery, 2006.
- Kester, Grant H. Conversation Pieces: Community and Communication in Modern Art. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004.
Critical Theory
- Bateson, Nora. Combining. Triarchy Press, 2023.
- Purser, Ronald E. McMindfulness: How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality. London: Repeater Books, 2019.
Phenomenology
- Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. Phenomenology of Perception. Trans. Colin Smith. London: Routledge, 1962.
- Varela, Francisco J., Thompson, Evan & Rosch, Eleanor. The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1991.
Artists & Exhibitions
- Le Parc, Julio. Interactive installations and kinetic sculptures. Tate Modern. June 2026.
- Turrell, James. After Glow, Gagosian, Burlington Arcade. Feb 2026.
- Janssens, Ann Veronica. Installation works [specific exhibitions TBD]
- Eliasson, Olafur. Installation works [specific exhibitions TBD]