This series was originally released on George De Bruin's CerebralAudio label in August of 2016.
Here are his notes about this release.
Scott Lawlor approached me via Twitter about a release on CerebralAudio and said, “I’ve got a rather minimal album in mind called Experiments in Isolation.”
I’ve known Scott for a few years now, so I was immediately intrigued by the proposal. What he submitted was nothing less than an epic, three CD-length release that was an immediate challenge.
When Scott says that he has a “minimal album in mind” he isn’t referring to the scope, size or the concept of a project. Even the single track that comprises the first part of this series of releases is 78 minutes long.
Scott’s idea was to dig into the realm of sensory deprivation (also known as perceptual isolation): the area of study in psychology which has also been used in alternative medicines.
This has been an area of study that has been interesting and controversial on a number of levels. Some psychological studies have shown there are benefits to using sensory deprivation within limited time frames, while others have shown there are severe negative effects that can occur when the human mind and body are isolated from external stimuli.
Part Two of this series explores two related topics to sensory deprivation.
On Total Isolation Scott explores the results of an experiment conducted on six individuals. The individuals were locked into chambers deep inside a nuclear bunker for forty eight hours. At the conclusion of the experiment several of the participants were unable to complete simple tasks, it was estimated their
mental capacity had deteriorated, with one subjects facilities deteriorating by 36 percent. All of the men in the study were also found to be much more suggestable, although the women were not.
Theta State is the brainwave that is seen as marking the transition from being awake to sleeping. During some types of tests / therapy (primarily Flotation REST) the Theta State can last for several minutes, This state is often seen as contributing to enhanced creativity or problem solving.