Ben Koppelman: multidisciplinary artist
Enchantment is about translating us back into nature to rediscover an intimate and porous relationship with the world where we no longer feel separate but intensely part of it. Neuroscience is revealing how we do not passively perceive the world but actively co-generate it. We draw on the background context of our prior beliefs, knowledge and expectations to predict our experiences confirmed or corrected by sense data.
Researcher
To explore this enchanting relationship between our minds and the world, I synthesise ideas from neuroscience, phenomenology, philosophy, psychology and sociology; in particular, hallucinations, aesthetic, psychedelic and mystical experiences.
I also lead Kimatica Studio’s research on designing transcendent experiences. We have so far been collaborating with the National Gallery; Kings’s College London (Psychoactive Trials Group); Goldsmiths University (Dance Movement Psychotherapy programme) and Greenwich University (Audiovisual and Gaming).
Designer
I design speculative sound experiences to illuminate the contextual nature of consciousness. Framed by mystical and scientific imagination, my practice based research into hallucinatory sound design uses audio illusions; hybrid sounds, including audio AI; headphone theatre and multiple layers of narrative; spatial sound and immersive storytelling. I’ve designed ambisonic performances for the IRCAM Forum in Paris and IKLECTIK ArtLab in London.
Storyteller
Strong narrative design is at the core of my speculative world building. I draw on my love of writing short stories, including prose and poetic flash fiction (less than 500 words), and performing spoken word.
Musician
I DJ deep techno, playing at clubs and events and making mixes for labels in the UK and internationally. I also produce electronic music. My first album, The Anima Mundi, was released in 2022 by the On the 5th Day label.
Rising star
I studied a BA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University then a MA in Philosophy from King’s College London followed by over 10 years at the Royal Society, advising UK government and international organisations on science and engineering policies, regulation and diplomacy. But a creative calling drew me to the Royal College of Art where I studied a MA in Information Experience Design. My RCA graduate show project was reviewed in The Guardian where I was profiled as one of three rising stars.
“Ben was really unconventional as an art student. I was really interested in how he would approach the programme and he didn’t disappoint. What impresses me most about his work is how he balances and integrates elements that would normally be kept separate, like neuroscience and mysticism, for example. He draws knowledge from a lot of different places that people don’t normally imagine sitting easily together.”