Category: LookingOutwards-04

LookingOutwards-04 Sound Arts

Light & Sound Synthesis: In Conversation with Amay Kataria by Amay Kataria

The project Supersynthesis use creates an interaction between light and sounds. I admire how the project changes the patterns of the lights depending on the patterns of the sounds. I admired the changing light patterns, because it satisfied my imagination of how programming influences reality by creating lights that simultaneously change in pattern with sound waves. In this sense, these lights just visualized sound waves.

It’s complicated for me to understand how the programs behind this work, but I can summarize it in an abstract manner. The artwork was divided into 24 light sources that have 24 pitches, which will be triggered when different pitches are detected. The program Amay created can allow machines to detect each pitch and control the light sources.

The Amay Kataria’s artistic sensibilities manifest in the final form through visualization of the invisible sounds waves with lights. It was visually pleasant to watch these light changes in wave patterns in the dark according to the sound of the drums.

Link: Light & Sound Synthesis: In Conversation with Amay Kataria – CreativeApplications.Net

Video:

LO 04: VOLUME by SOFTlab, NY 2017

Volume, as described by the author is an interactive cube of responsive mirrors that redirect light and sound responsive to the surrounding movement. The installation commissioned by HP consists of a square grid of 100 mirrored panels with individually addressable LED lights sandwiched along the vertical sides. These panels are mounted on posts with rotating motors. The installation comes to life when the panels rotate and align to human movement, where the human becomes the attractor point for the mirrors to align and face. The sound transmission is also controlled tracing the attractor point and the light in turn react to the sound produced by the panels. This interconnected network of reactive movement and sound fills the atmosphere around the installation. To trace the human motion, array of depth camera is used and identify them as points. Much like the mouseX and mouseY used to locate the mouse pointer. The position tracking uses 6 Kinetic V2 cameras to identify blobs and depth image is retrieved using KineticPV2 library.

Volume UI from SOFTlab on Vimeo.

Looking Outwards – 04

Sole is an artificial sun by Quiet Ensemble. The purpose of this project is to create a 360 degree video – mapping to simulate the movement of the sun around the inside of a space. Their project used the space of the Salone degli Incanti in Trieste.

Using artificial shadows and lights, the user is able to experience an unreal simulation of a space at any real or unreal context showing imaginary as well as possible paths, “broadening our horizons”. I like the combination between light and technology in order to make a replication of possibilities or non-possibilities.

LINK HERE

Looking Outwards: Sound Art

I looked at the MediaArtTube YouTube channel and found a project called ‘Study of Time’ by Random International. The piece was presented at the Miami Art Basel in 2011 and plays with the idea of time in relation to light and sound. The brightness and intensity of the light in relation to how each point/ light source on the plane lights up in contrast or union with those around it are used to complement the sound the viewers hear.

When prominent chords or louder sounds are heard, there is direct visual feedback on the installation as points on the surface light up faster. The slower speed of lighting up and the gradient effect of the lights complemented the slower increase of volume and sounds. The light beams also cast shadows on these cylinders perpendicular to the surface, creating different numbers which were also really cool in immersing a viewer in thinking about time and creating an emotional environment with the sound and lights.

I would imagine algorithms were used to recognize aspects from the sound clip and transfer that to the intensity and speed of light for the various light points.

https://www.random-international.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbvjKXHbjuM

week 4 blog

https://sonami.net/portfolio/items/ladys-glove/

One of the people listed in the suggestions was Laetitia Sonami. From a brief glance at her website it seemed like she used motion and other changing factors to produce music. I looked her up on Spotify and found her music kind of haunting but also intriguing. Usually I go through a couple of the people on the list before deciding to commit to one and research their work but I immediately was interested in her work. One of her main projects is something called lady’s glove. Originally it started as a simple mockup only using a kitchen glove and some wires and sensors but overtime Sonami has edited and improved the quality both visually and functionally. The basics are that the glove has sensors on the fingers that detect movement and a magnet which is used to ground/track the movement. These movements are then translated which allows then the sound to change and match movements. The glove became part of the performance, and instrument used to change the feeling of the music while also adding to the performative and mystical aspects that are woven into the style of music. 

Looking Outwards Blog 04

The FORMS string quartet is a string quartet performance that includes digital visual elements based on sounds played during performances. As shown in the link below, they use various shapes and colors to interpret the noises from the string instruments to visual data that is played to create a more engaging experience for classical music than ever before. The scores are created previous to the performance using generative graphic algorithms that allow each sound to be interpreted into a visual shape/color. The FORMS creators allow the audience to view what is to come through visuals, making it an interactive experience, one that I would love to experience, as current classical music performances do not encourage some of the amazing visuals that have been reached by more “casual” concerts.

FORMS String Quartet 

Below is a link to information on Alexander Scriabin and his use of color in creating his circle of fifths. I found it interesting that these ideas of relating music to color can be traced back to the 1800’s and, through technology, can become musical performances similar to what Scriabin expected – though he imagined one performance with lights flashing colors related to their notes would end the world completely! This performance by FORMS seems like something that could be created with the P5.js program and inspires me to learn about the possibilities connecting sound, art, and technology.

Alexander Scriabin and Color

Looking Outwards – 04

Work Title: The Sweet Screen, A multiplayer touch installation

Artist: DA Z Digital Art Zurich

https://studiomoniker.com/projects/the-sweet-screen

“The phone has become an extension of our body, and our finger is navigating through the endless seductive space of information or entertainment.”

This project is an interactive mobile design that invites the audience to use their fingers on the screen, and the hand mirrors the touching back motion from behind the screen. While people gather in the screening room, one can also see other people’s fingers on the digital screen and interact with one another. As the finger touches back, there is also a “knock” sound playing. I am interested in this project because yet it’s generated by a very simple motion, the multimedia experience is prolific in both 2-dimension and 4-dimension spaces. I suppose the algorithm behind this work to be mimicking the user’s finger as mouseX and mouseY. When mouseX and mouseY are tracked, there is a reaction sent from the computer, which includes the audio effect and another finger appearing.  

LO4: Sound Art

The artwork that i’m interested is Senseless Drawing Bot by So Kanno & Takahiro Yamaguchi. The robot is a 4-wheeled graffiti machine, with a pendulum arm, arduino and spray cans to create random strokes as it moves up and down the gallery space. The movements of the pendulum arm creates drawings that are free and random, so that audiences can’t really expect what comes next. This randomness makes the artwork very interesting.
Moreover, this combination of technology and art creates a lot of possibilities in the future, combining AI with art and a lot of other creative aspects.
Thinking of the algorithm, I think the settings makes use of the physical characteristics of free arm pendulum, which goes through random movements while it starts rotating. So the program sets when the robot starts drawing, when it starts rotating the arm and what the storkeweight is.

link here

Blog 04

French American jazz pianist Dan Tepfer is also a coder and has developed a series of algorithms so that his computer can play with him. Jazz is known for its unpredictability and improvisations, which Tepfer’s algorithms can respond to. Tepfer, however, is a strong proponent of believing that computers should not be too intelligent but rather broaden the horizons of one’s imagination. Tepfer connects his Yamaha Disklavier to his computer where his playing is understood and the algorithms and “plays” the piano as well. His album showcasing his work, Natural Machines, was released in 2018. Tepfer is currently working on bringing his ideas to the Melbourne Planetarium where his algorithm will also project moving images in the dome.

Looking Outwards – 04

Zimoun – Sound Sculptures

Zimoun’s sound sculptures revolve around using industrial and everyday materials such as cardboard and manipulates them in a mechanical way that when in motion, creates immersive and beautical sounds. His sculptures are typically installation pieces that spin, turn, oscillate ect, to create a depth in the sounds. I admire his works especially because of the materials he uses; Zimoun manages to discover the hidden sounds of everyday objects and exhibits them in a way that produces almost a spatial experience, derived from a series of the same object. 

I believe that the motion of the objects are generated by programming the oscillations of the corresponding string or wire, which leads to the oscillation of the object. 

The artist, Zimoun has always been interested in both sound art and visual art, which has helped him in his projects; his sound sculptures are both visually and phonetically aesthetic and theses components work together to create the immersive experience.