Installation “Picture Puzzle Pattern Door” by New York-based artist Shana Moulton works was exhibited in the contemporary art center in San Francisco. Her works investigated for the relationship between American consumer culture and the New Age movement, highlighting consumerism’s influence on wellness and spiritual fulfillment.

Shana Moulton “MindPlace ThoughtStream” (video still), 2014, Courtesy the artist and Gimpel Fils, London; Galerie Gregor Staiger, Zurich; and Galerie Crèvecoeur, Paris

In her videos, Shana always plays “Cynthia,” a mute character inhabiting highly artificial environments, who seeks spiritual enlightenment, physical comfort, and healing through her ritualistic interaction with various mass-produced items. Shana presents a multimedia installation featuring Cynthia’s humorous, playful, and sometimes painful world where kitsch, mysticism, pop culture, and spirituality collide.

There was a Bio Feedback Machine, which controls the body condition by brainwave and blood pressure, at the lobby on the second floor of the art center. It was made based on the assumption that monitoring internal and physical response and training the mind would control the human body. Visitors actually could sit down on the sofa equipped with the system and wear a measuring device. You can see the condition of your body.

Shana Moulton “MindPlace ThoughtStream” (video still), 2014, Courtesy the artist and Gimpel Fils, London; Galerie Gregor Staiger, Zurich; and Galerie Crèvecoeur, Paris

The video screen in front of the sofa shows Cynthia who is taking bath and plugs in Mind Place Thought Stream Bio Feedback System. Her body function is measured and reported with sound and light. The images that she wanders the labyrinth of her brain are screened on the tiles of the bathroom. As if she starts getting into the meditation. Welcome to Cynthia’s world. This is the entrance of the magical world. Watching this video and sitting deeply on the sofa, you will find that the flashing orange signal is changed to green color. Mysterious steam rises from the back of the sofa. Your breath is now calm. This is an experience that the mind controls the body.