The Mesa Musical Shadows is an interactive music playing device that allows people to create music through the use of their shadows. This device was created by Montreal’s Daily Tous Les Jours studio and is located in the north plaza at Mesa Arts Center in Arizona. This singing pavement has four different tracks that changes depending on the time of day–morning, afternoon, evening, and night. Additionally, 47 light sensors are controlled through 6 control nodes and speakers are carefully placed in areas where water could not reach them.
I admire the fact that the workers in the studio wanted to implement the voice of the community members and students who live in Arizona. Through surveys and feedback from those people, the studio bought prototypes to test out what products could most accurately reflect what the public wants. They not only focused on the aspect of people playing around with their shadows to generate music, they also tried to take into consideration the people sitting on the sides, who could also feel more relaxed and happy watching others formulate a joyful tune on the musical cement.
In 2014, visual artist, David Bowen, created an installation, “cloud piano”, that plays the piano based on cloud movements and shapes. How this is done is that Bowen has a camera set up that is pointed towards the sky and takes video of the clouds. Using a software he made, the video causes a device to press down on the corresponding piano keys. The whole act of the installation is to make it seem like the clouds are pressing the piano keys as they move across the sky and go through shape changes. Ultimately, the sound that is played on the piano is made up of a bunch of different sound patterns that Bowen describes as “ethereal forms that build, sweep, fluctuate and dissipate in the sky”.
What I think is really cool about this project is the fact that it is so beautifully and intricately constructed. It is cool to see how sound, art and technology can all be tied in together. Bowen’s work definitely gears towards this side of things, but it is amazing to see things like this done because it is so opposite of what I would do or how I create my art.
//Yoonseo(Dave) Choi
//Section B
//yoonseo1@andrew.cmu.edu
//Project-04
//String Art
var slider; //slider variable
var n; // output variable for sequence
var spix; //x coordinate variable for spiral sequence
var spiy; //y coordinate variable for spiral sequence
var nn; //simple sequence variable to connect with spiral
var Svalue; //variable for slider value
function setup() {
createCanvas(400, 300); // set canvas size to 400,300
slider = createSlider(0,170,0); // slider that value goes from 0,170 and start value with 0
}
function draw() {
Svalue = slider.value(); //return slider value to Svalue
background(0); //set background color to black
//sequence();
stroke(255,255,255,70);//set color to be white and Alpha value of 100
strokeWeight(1) // stroke weight to be 1 pix.
sequence(); //execute simple sequence function.
Bloom(); // execute Bloom function
}
function sequence(){ //simple arithmatic sequence
for (var i =0; i <=Svalue; i+=5){ // increment of i in 5s if smaller than slider
n = 2*i+1; //out put equation
line(0,height/2+n,n*3,height); // sequence and inverse connected on left bottom corner
line(width,height/2+n,width-n*3,height); //Same on right bottom corner
line(0,height/2-n,n*3,0); //same on left top corner
line(width,height/2-n,width-n*3,0); //same on right top corner.
}
}
function Bloom(){
for (var j = 0; j <=Svalue/100; j+= 0.1){// slider value divided by 100 to fit trigonomatric values.
//based on r(t) = exp(t) in polar equation
spix = exp(j)*cos(j); //x coordinate based on cos with exponaential value
spiy = exp(j)*sin(j); //y coordeinate based on sine with exponential value
//top and bottom of flower
line(width/2+spix*20,height/2+spiy*20,width/2-spix*20,height/2+spiy); //connecting lines to each points generated
line(width/2-spix*20,height/2-spiy*20,width/2+spix*20,height/2-spiy);
line(width/2-spix*20,height/2+spiy*20,width/2+spix*20,height/2-spiy);
line(width/2+spix*20,height/2-spiy*20,width/2-spix*20,height/2+spiy);
//left and right of flower
line(width/2+spiy*20,height/2+spix*20,width/2-spiy*20,height/2+spix);
line(width/2-spiy*20,height/2-spix*20,width/2+spiy*20,height/2-spix);
line(width/2-spiy*20,height/2+spix*20,width/2+spiy*20,height/2-spix);
line(width/2+spiy*20,height/2-spix*20,width/2-spiy*20,height/2+spix);
for (var w = 0; w <=Svalue;w+=60){ //connecting the polar equation with linear sequence
nn = 2*w+1; //same sequence as above
line(width/2+spiy*20,height/2+spix*20,width,height/2+nn); // connecting sequence with points on same quadrant
line(width/2-spiy*20,height/2+spix*20,0,height/2+nn); //left borrom corner
line(width/2+spiy*20,height/2-spix*20,0,height/2-nn); // left top corner
line(width/2-spiy*20,height/2-spix*20,width,height/2-nn); // right top corner
}
}
}
For this project, I wanted to look into other equations rather than simple arithmetic equations. I tried to incorporate the polar equation (spiral,r(t) = exp(t))to generate interesting shape and line movements. I added the slider so user can interact with the shape and see the process of generating.
Ryoji Ikeda is an extremely popular music composer in Japan. He focuses on the “essential characteristics of sound itself and that of visuals as light by means of both mathematical precision and mathematical aesthetics.” One of Ikeda’s works is an installation called The Transfinite. Accompanying the aggressive and static like electronic music are barcode like patterns that move throughout the 54 feet wide by 40 feet tall screen. I believe Ikeda created the music and visuals by the use of loops. He must have had to create different sounds then made them into functions and called them in loops. I am drawn to his work because it is so all encompassing. Just by seeing a video you can tell the world he creates people are a mere spec.
Amanda Ghassaei’s Ambient Synthesis is a physical product that reacts to sunlight with sound. The result is a surreal ringing sound that produces symmetrical Rorschach like light patterns in a bright space. What I admire most about this project is the attention to form giving this machine has. It is taking natural input, the sun, through technology and sensors, and outputting an aesthetically pleasing light pattern all encompassed in a obelisk-like box. I also think her approach to sound is interesting in that she is taking all these simple frequency sounds but when you put them together its complex, otherwise called additive synthesis.
In terms of software and hardware, Ghassaei’s Ambient Sound runs a MaxMSP FM Synthesis patch called straw in order for the light to be properly converted into corresponding sounds. Ghassaei’s intention was to create a piece that could incorporate the evolving landscape to create a wide range of “timbres and textures.”
Howler Monkey by Meier & Erdmann is a music video created by Spanish visual artist, Victor Doval. He used the frequencies of the sounds in the music to define a landscape’s visual parameters algorithmically. This literally visualized the idea that music is a journey through a changing landscape that is interpreted through one’s ears.
Doval used Processing and Blender to create these visuals that are in sync with the music. This project was interesting to me because of the initial idea that music is a journey. I thought that this music video was a good example of what that could mean and demonstrating how that could be visualized. However, I do feel that it may interfere with other people’s interpretations.
“Sonic Pendulum” by Yuri Suzuki Design Studio in collaboration with QOSMO (2017)
Sonic Pendulum is a sound installation that utilizes artificial intelligence to create an endless soundscape. Inspired by the client’s new Audi A5 line, the installation is made up of 30 pendulums, which simulates sound through speakers and crowd movement. Networked camera and computer vision systems set up around the installation provides an understanding of the crowd size and movement, which directly correlates with the music volume, soundtrack, etc. I really admire how the artist wanted to create a form of conversation through movement and sound, where the installation is almost ‘activated’ by the visitors’ movement, and in turn responds with the most original sound that never repeats itself.
The AI algorithms used to create Sonic Pendulum was trained by a team to create an infinite composition, which reacted to movement in live space, creating moment-to-moment experiences. An application called MAXMSP was used to further train the algorithm, delivering compositions that matched the sound intensity of the space.
In terms of artistic sensibilities, not only did the studio require a working algorithm, they also had to consider space, scale, composition and rendering of installation, and also how the Audi cars aligned with the arrangement. What resulted were multiple triangular forms that encouraged interaction with passerby.
Big Bang (Icebox) is the third in a series of projects by the artist Ezra Masch. It consists of LED light poles installed in a space, which are activated by the input of a drummer and a drum set. As the drummer beats on the drum set, the LED light poles will light up in specific ways based on the tempo/beat/intesity of the drum. Masch is an artist who has a background in sculpture from RISD, but he has recently been experimenting with combining technology and art.
His work is incredibly disciplinary, combining visual art, music, and technology, and I think it mirrors the interdisciplinary spirit at CMU. I don’t know much about the algorithms that were used for his work, but his website states that his installations use custom electronics by 4MS Pedals.
If I were to critique this project, I’d love to see other instruments added to it. It could be expanded with more colors and arrangements.
Superposition is a computational sound project that was directed by Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda. Since its creation in 2012, Ikeda has premiered this project through four different mediums: installations, performance, concert, and dvd. Superposition was premiered at the MET in New York in 2012 and attracted a lot of attention from people for its unique concept.
The project is based on sine waves and impulses and is inspired by quantum mechanics. Although the superposition theorem in quantum physics is quite difficult to fathom completely, it could be said that it is about randomness. Components of Superposition are diverse and placed precisely, but Ikeda incorporates a bit of randomness through impulses.
elements of the performance
Superposition resembles nature in that sense. Performers, video clips, images, real time contents and more visual and sound elements are constantly in effect and then muted throughout the piece. Just like in the scientific world where particles in a superposition state can never be identified in one location, these sound waves are floating in multiple locations in different states. It is also parallel to how nature is everywhere. Even people are small parts of such a vast nature and they coexist at the same time, but are scattered all around the world.
Ikeda, as a visual and sound artist successfully abstracts the superposition theorem in a visually enticing way, using bursts of sounds and images. It is interesting how the artist attempted to describe a natural phenomenon through precise calculations and execute that in sounds. The concept of tracking back and substantiating nature through pure sine waves and impulses created by shortening sine waves is interesting.
More information can be found on the project’s webpage and the interview with Ryoji Ikeda.
//Jihee Kim
//15-104 MWF 9:30
//jiheek1@andrew.cmu.edu
//project4 string art
//section D
var backgroundRed; // Red value of background
var backgroundGreen = 4; // Green value of background
var backgroundBlue = 51; // Blue value of backgound
var lineR = 187; // Red value of lines
var lineG; // Green value of lines
var lineB = 239; // Blue value of lines
function setup() {
createCanvas(400, 300);
}
function draw() {
// background changes from navy blue to dark purple as mouse moves in x direction
background(backgroundRed, backgroundGreen, backgroundBlue);
backgroundRed = map(mouseY, 0, height, 5, 37); // only R value changes
//color of lines change as mouse moves in X direction
lineG = map(mouseX, 0, width, 208, 187); // only G value changes
// draw layers of folds that reveal a diamond at the end
// basic logic: thickest strokeweight = closest to front
// basic logic: i is greatest in the very back to draw less attention
var x = 0; // position of x coordinate
var y = 0; // position of y coordinate
// form curves that are closest and create the almond shape
for (var i = 0; i <= 400; i += 18) { //set the start, limit, spacing
stroke(lineR, lineG, lineB);
strokeWeight(1.6); // thickest lineweight for the element in very front
line(x + i, height, width, height - i); // bottom right corner
strokeWeight(1.2); // second thickest lineweight
line(x + i, y, x, height - i); // top left corner
strokeWeight(0.8); // third thickest lineweight = 3rd closest to front
line(width/2 + i, 0, width, i); // top right quadrant
line(width/2 - i, height, x, height - i); // bottom left quadrant
strokeWeight(0.4); // fourth thickness = exists in the back
line(x + i, y, width, i); // top right corner
line(width - i, height, x, height - i); // bottom left corner
}
// draw the diamond
for (var i = 0; i <= 400; i += 25) {
strokeWeight(0.25); // second to furthest element
// top left quadrant
line(width/2 - i, height/2, width/2, i);
// bottom left quadrant
line(width/2 - i, height/2, width/2, height - i);
// top right quadrant
line(width/2 + i, height/2, width/2, i);
// bottom right quadrant
line(width/2 + i, height/2, width/2, height - i);
}
// overlay another diamond that moves
//spacing between loops varies with mouseY
spacing = map(mouseY, 0, height, 0, 2);
for (var i = 0; i <= 400; i += 25) {
strokeWeight(0.15); // furthest element
// top left quadrant
line(width/2 - i, height/2 * spacing, width/2, i * spacing);
// bottom left quadrant
line(width/2 - i, height/2 * spacing, width/2, height - i * spacing);
// top right quadrant
line(width/2 + i, height/2 * spacing, width/2, i * spacing);
// bottom right quadrant
line(width/2 + i, height/2 * spacing, width/2, height - i * spacing);
}
}
For this project, I have created a drawing with multiple layers of folds and a diamond-like element by forming curves with lines.
My inspiration for the project came from the pattern below.
inspiration
As the pattern above does, I wanted my project to show depth and I achieved that goal through varying the distance between loops and the stroke weight, creating a hierarchy that conveys a sense of depth. I wanted the viewer to clearly sense what is in front and what is in the back.
I also made the drawing more dynamic by controlling some motion of elements and color with the position of the mouse.