Tag: LookingOutwards-04

Shariq M. Shah – Looking Outwards 04 – Sound Art

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Demonstration of Hamdan’s work: Saydnaya

Lawrence Abu Hamdan is a sound researcher and designer studying the intersection of sonic research, politics, art, and forensics. Using his background as a musician, he uses computational processes and calibrated research models for his political and artistic investigations. One of his works, Saydnaya, consists of a sound box in a dim room in a way where voices of 4 inmates become quieter after 2011 protests in his country. There is a level of abstraction in his work that allows the work to be understood as not only sets of decibel data and forensic investigations, but also as emotional and evocative maps of the human condition.

The Hummingbird Clock, on the other hand, functions as a public time piece that exists both physically and online. It records, second by second, the buzz of the electronic grid picked up by surveillance cameras in a highly public location, so that it may be viewed in the public domain rather than exclusively by government security agencies.

These highly novel yet highly calibrated approaches to the interactions between computation, forensics, politics, and design push the boundaries on what can be conceived as art.

Hummingbird Clock in public space

Janet Peng-LookingOutwards-04

Video showing the project Sorting by Ren Yuan

The project Sorting by Ren Yuan provides an innovative intersection between sound, visualization, and algorithmic thinking. The project represents different sorting algorithms using both visuals and sounds. These pair well together to increase the appeal of the sorting algorithm. As well, it makes sorting seem very technical and complicated. I really like this project because it uses sound in a way I never expected. Sorting seems very far detached from the world of “Art and Music” so I found it surprising that this project merged the two. I believe there are three animations representing the sorting in progress. As well, I believe the sounds represent different parts in the sorting process. For example, the short beep-y sounds probably represent a comparison between two numbers being made the long swooping sound probably represents that the sorting has been completed. Using the sorting algorithm of choice, these visuals and sounds are probably mapped to different steps as the computer loops through the algorithm. It’s clear that the creator is from a more technical field because of the way the visuals and sounds end up being represented. I believe they do not represent sorting in a way that can be understood by someone without prior exposure. Therefore, the creator might have designed this with a specific audience in mind.