Jamie Dorst Looking Outward 11

For this week’s looking outward, I am writing about a project done by Pierry Jacquillard, Prélude in ACGT – Sonification of personal (DNA) data, where he converted his own DNA into a musical piece. He wanted to see how nature’s core structure (DNA) could collide with the artificial and man-made (Code). He created five interfaces to help achieve this project. Two of them drive the remote, which allows you to change parameters like Tempo, the musical arrangement or even the type of conversion and the chromosomes’ library where you can choose which one to play and where inside it. The three other are used to visualize the sound, the type of algorithm and his raw DNA – all in search for understanding the process.

This project was really interesting to me because it’s something I probably never would have thought about, but it is actually a really creative idea as a way to compare natural and synthetic things. I’m also very surprised at how the music doesn’t sound too eclectic or random–it sounds very well like a contemporary piece that could have been made without the DNA.