Brain Change created by Julie Laffin and performed by Laura Weiss Lyngaas for the Dealing with New Demands exhibition by Jennifer Mills in conjunction with the Chicago-wide Happiness Project by Tricia Van Eck 

I created Brain Change after reading studies about how therapeutic touch has the capability to positively alter the brain chemistry of the receiver. Of course, anecdotal evidence on the intensely pleasurable experience of massage has been obvious since the beginning of time, but there have become more and more methods for proving it scientifically.  The installation was comprised of seven, two-dimensional graphic works on vellum on the subject of brain science and positive emotions but written in the language of advertisements promising various sensations of pleasure for sale: Bliss, Nirvana, Ecstasy, etc.  Viewers who purchased a piece of art for only $10 immediately received a massage by performer and professional massage therapist, Laura Weiss Lyngaas, whom I hired to perform the massages on the spot in the Comfort Station Gallery in Logan Square on Chicago's near west side the day of the opening.

Click here for a description of Jennifer's project and interview with Tricia Van Eck about her Chicago-wide Happiness Project.

December 2011, The Comfort Station gallery, Chicago.