LO-Sound Art

Iris Yip iyip
15-104 Section D
LO-04

A project with an interesting application of sound art is Prélude in ACGT – Sonification of personal (DNA) data by Pierry Jacquillard. The project uses DNA (chromosomes 1-22, XY) and converts it to artificial sound, successfully creating music. His intention was to create an intersection between nature’s “core structure” (DNA) and “artificial, man-made (CODE)”, exploring different interpretations of the idea of one’s personal “data” and deconstruct it to understand the way that these different processes translate into one another.

He created five different interfaces for the intention of simplifying and breaking down the conversion process. I was personally drawn to this project because I was fascinated with the way that it took a natural processes like the structure of our DNA and chromosomes and translated it into sound through the similarities between our biology and the way we’ve intentionally structured and built our coding languages. The way that the artist structured the conversion between our DNA and the four types of molecular bases (ACGT) with code shows a good grasp of both the biological and technological processes involved. The “rationale” (or discussion) behind the piece and how information is retrieved, understood, and maintained in different ways also produced a fascinating conversation about the nature of individuality and the creation of life itself.