serinal – looking outwards 04 (section C)

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.

Name: Cloud Piano

Artist: David Bowen

Date: 2014

Website Link: http://www.dwbowen.com/cloud-piano/