Created by Purform in 2010, White Box is described as an audiovisual performance piece in a cycle that begain in 2003 with Black Box.
It works to generate audiovisual compositions in real time, and the cycle “metaphorically transposes, into sound and images, concepts from systems theory.”
One of the most inspiring aspects of this project is its ability to accommodate such a wide variety of sounds to project a dramatic representation through black, white and grey boxes. This cycle captures audios and visually conveys in a way that is simple for it to make sense to all types of audiences but in a way that is complex for it to completely mesmerize. By doing so, White Box ensures an unforgettable experience for spectators.
Purform – White Box, Audiovisual Performance, 2010
Today, I will be talking about a project called Noíze Chair (São Paulo, Brazil 2012) by Guto Requena. The Noíze Chair was digitally conceived from the merge of sounds captured in the streets of Sao Paulo with a Brazilian design Icon. The Giraffe Chain by Lima Bo Bardo, Marcelo Ferraz, and Marcelo Suzuki was digitally modeled in 3D, a genuine reproduction of its physical model. This digital model was deformed through its fusion with audio files collected at Santa Ifigênia Street – Downtown Sao Paulo. The result is a manifest-chair, that instigates reflection beyond the act of sitting. The digital file with the audio and the chair was then 3D printed. City voices, suburban noises and the resonance of concrete Braizilian design landmarks is placed in a piece that exceeds the normal design process. I admire this project because it merges Product design with culture, and history of the geological location. The end result is not only a visually effective design, but a piece that carries so much meaning and story behind it. The multiple recorded city noises are overlapped and average, then the sound waves are reflected on the chair as a “shockwave.” It is clear to see Guto Requena’s artistic abilities manifest in his piece through his thoughtful process and understanding of culture and providing a new product to experience it in a different way.
Installed in the plaza outside the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, GA, Yuri Suzuki’s “Sonic Playground” is an interactive collection of colorful structures that invites visitors to explore and modify the qualities of sound. These life-size sculptures emit computationally curated sounds depending on where users are standing, sitting, listening, or speaking, encouraging museum-goers to explore the area and test how different interactions affect sound output. The software aspect of the installation was done by Luca Dellatorre, who used Grasshopper and Rhinoceros to manipulate how the acoustics are emitted, reflected, and received. I was intrigued by this art piece because of the way it creates a welcoming, visually friendly environment for visitors while incorporating a level of sonic complexity that is not immediately noticeable but gets uncovered the more time one spends with it.
Children play with and explore the Sonic Playground
// Fangzheng Zhu
// Section D
// jtimczyk@andrew.cmu.edu
// Project-04-string art
var y = 100;
var x = 100;
var m = -1;
var n = -1;
function setup() {
createCanvas(400, 300);
stroke(255);
strokeWeight(0.5);
frameRate(30);
}
function draw() {
background(0 , 5);
stroke(y,100,x);
// 1st string animation
y = y + (3*m);
if (y < 0) {
m = m*(-1);
}
if (y > height) {
m = m*(-1);
}
// 1st strings
line(0, y, width/2, height/2);
line(width, y, width/2, height/2);
line(0, y, width/2, height);
line(width, y, width/2, height);
line(0, y, width/2, 0);
line(width, y, width/2, 0);
// 2st string animation
x = x + (3*n);
if (x < 0) {
n = n*(-1);
}
if (x>width) {
n = n*(-1);
}
// 2st strings
line(0, height/2, x, 0);
line(0, height/2, x, height);
line(width/2, height/2, x, 0);
line(width/2, height/2, x, height);
line(width, height/2, x, 0);
line(width, height/2, x, height);
}
Crow are Chased and the Chasing Crows are Destined to be Chased as well, Transcending Space
Crows are Chased and the Chasing Crows are Destined to be Chased as well, Transcending Space is a visual and audio interactive installation by teamLab. In this installation, the audience enters a room with projections of crows on all sides of the room. As the crows start flying, the music begins, and when the crows crash into each other’s path, they scatter, turning into flowers. This installation excites me greatly as the surround sound and projections make it seem like the viewer is encompassed by the artwork, slowly becoming one with it. As I watched the video, I could imagine myself losing touch of reality, being immersed in the projected world, fully focused on the crows taking flight and mentally swaying to the energetic, yet soothing music. As the installation is constantly generated, each sequence of music and motion will not be repeated, thus, creating a sense of intriguing uncertainty, which I greatly admire and enjoy. Although it did not specify how the sound and animation is created from coding, I speculate that the installation is done by using loops, random functions, and if statements. The whole installation might be an infinite loop, and embedded in the loop, might be some if statements and random functions to generate variety while maintaining a certain framework. The artist’s sensibility is thus manifest in the generation of numerous sequences of sounds and animations harmoniously coming to life.
Salvador Breed is a creator of music, sound design, art and technology. He combines sound and technology for installations, performances, and fashion shows. He collaborates with different fashion designers, artists, musicians, etc. to create a harmony between the music and the shows. The algorithms of the music are based on different meanings the shows carry or the specific moments in shows where emphasis is needed. Breed focuses on the “atmospheres, movements and impacts, blending boundaries between music and sound design” mostly using field recordings and modern technologies. As a choreographer of sound, Breed’s interests and sensibilities are manifested throughout the entirety of his music as all of his works are generally focused on natural ambience, silence, space, breaths, etc. A specific piece of work that gave me inspiration is Noosphere / Aegis, an interactive composition for installation by Salvador Breed and Phillip Beesley’s Living Architecture Systems Group in 2018. Noosphere is composed of spherical structures embedded with artificial intelligence that allows interaction with the audience. Salvador manifests his natural and silent sounds that go along smoothly with the moving installation piece. Their sound and computation collaboration can be found in the link below (or title).
For this week’s blog, I wanted to write about a project done by Amanda Ghassaei. Her project called Sugarcube, is a device that is a grid based MIDI controller that also detects the x and y accelerator or the user’s movement to visualize it through moving lights. The cubes planted on the device in rows of four down and four across are also able to be pressed by the user which will turn on the light for that respective cube. I thought this project was super interesting because it detects the tilt of the device to reflect it in a visual way. Aside from the purpose of the project, the visual itself is a very intriguing part in itself. Amanda Ghassaei paid close attention to the visual lights in her project to make the lights resemble the movement as accurately as possible. Not only does she make this project connect to movement, she also brings in audio to this project by making it possible for her many things with sound. The device is able to connect to a variety of apps to control sound. Amanda also created other apps that make it possible to connect to MaxMSP to control audio.
The project I picked to look at this week is Laetitia Sonami’s instrument, “The Lady’s Glove.” That Lady’s Glove is a mesh evening glove she wears during performances that allows her to trigger and manipulated sound during her live performances. I admire her innovation and technical skill she needed to create this glove and the idea that you can make an instrument out of anything. The glove is filled with sensors like micro-switches, transducers, pressure pads, resistive strips, ultrasonic receivers, light sensors, accelerometers, and a mini microphone. She uses these to send data to her computer which are routed through Sensorlab, hardware developed by STEIM. They’re then mapped onto MAX MSP software. Laetitia is trying to find the line between the musician and the instrument, and I think she is very successful with that by creating an instrument which is molded to her hand.
Meandering Rivers premiered at Funkhaus, Berlin in July, 2018 and is an audiovisual installation that captures the natural forces that have actually shaped landscapes over time. The vibrant and dynamic textures show the unchanged nature with all the transformations going around in life. Based on a bespoke algorithm, the rippling and oscillating movement inherent in the generated imagery, provides a vantage point that transforms an understanding of progress, to examine the rhythm of natural forces.
The “Meandering River” is a multi-channel video with a set generative soundscape and the music has been composed by an A.I. (in collaboration with Kling Klang Klong) playing that shifts in tone when the river and surface patterns shift while this video is playing which further adds on movement through sonic sound and visuals. An interesting harmony is created through the installation creating an audio-visual journey and the the viewer is left with a humbling sense of the unpredictability of change and the beauty of nature.
My favorite hobby is drumming. As a drummer, a good sense of math is necessary for rhythm, but only at a basic level. However, being the CMU student that I am, I like to push the limits and find complex time signatures generated by complex algorithms. This is why I admire this project, “Sorting” because it’s taking a mathematical approach to sound and applies algorithms to it in an exploratory way.
The software, Processing, uses data information and seven different algorithms to sort the data, visualize it, and convert it to sound. Beyond that it is honestly hard to tell exactly how the program works, but there seems to be a “ticker” that processes the numbers procedurally, creating radian ranges as it works and sorts the data into these radian ranges based on data information.
The artistic sensibilities come across in the use of color and motion, which both serve to show how the data is being processed. The pairing of different sounds with the motion and color indicate what is happening, whether a confirmative ticking (with sparks) or a rejecting “thud” (with red flash).The varying line weights create a really beautiful and mesmerizing hierarchy of systems.
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