December 14, 1978. David Rosenboom performs On Being Invisible (1977) as “Las Ondas Cerebrales en Concierto” at the College of Mexico. The concert took place in the outdoor space of the College, with Rosenboom sitting “isolated” in the center of the rotunda and with an audience looking from top down on him. Altogether enclosed by brutalist architecture, creating the feeling of a panopticon.
In this performance, Rosenboom used the Buchla 300 Electric Music Box, hybrid, micro-computer-controlled analog system, plus self-constructed EEG acquisition and analysis equipment. The 300 Electric Music Box would be later employed for the performance and recording of In the Beginning (1979-80) series.
The concert followed the seminar “Seminario Internacional de Estudios en Creacion Musical y Futuro” organized by the composer and researcher Julio Estrada at the National University of Mexico on behalf of the Institute for Investigations in Aesthetics. In addition to Rosenboom, two other composers represented North American institutions in the Seminario: Iannis Xenakis and Pauline Oliveros.
This image from: Heyer, P., Zabludovsky, A., & de León, T. G. (1978). Mexican Architecture: The Work of Abraham Zabludovsky and Teodoro González de León. New York: Walker and Company.