What is ReBirth?
The ReBirth project was created to document my explorations with the flotation tank. A flotation tank is a lightproof, soundproof chamber that is regulated to skin temperature. It also contains a dense salt water solution that allows the subject to float effortlessly on the surface of the water. The reduction of sensory input can facilitate deep relaxation, meditation and lucid dream like states. The flotation tank will be described in more detail in the next section.
I experienced my first flotation tank session on November 15th, 1999 at a Spa. During that 45-minute session, I was reborn through the fractal womb of creation. My inner voices grew stronger and I felt much closer to the blissful interconnectedness of all things.
I wanted to float as often as possible and share the experience with others, so I built my own Flotation Tank during the Summer of 2000. I floated regularly, exploring the infinite spaces within and offered free sessions to just about everyone that I came into contact with. I became fascinated not only with my own flotation experiences but also with other peoples. I began to find that people were experiencing similar archetypal images while in the flotation tank.
I wanted to reach out to a larger audience and to creatively express the connections that I found during my flotation study so I created the "ReBirth" Installation. The Installation was based on my interviews with each person that floated in the "ReBirth" tank and from my own flotation sessions that took place during the summer and fall of 2000. These dream-like experiences were re-created and networked based on archetypal (universal) images through the use of animation, sound and interactivity. The final presentation took place inside of a womb-like environment that I created during December of 2000 for my senior project at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA.
The title "ReBirth" and the womb-like environment were chosen for several reasons. In the warm, dark, fluid environment of the flotation tank, many have reported having visions or sensations of returning to the womb and being reborn. Many have also reported reaching higher states of being, such as the loss of the sense of self and feelings of unity with all things. It is theorized that an unborn child has not yet developed a sense of self and does not distinguish between itself and others. In addition, birth is a universal experience and the womb is an archetypal image.