Golan Levin visited the Experimental Sound Synthesis class and shared an interesting history of sonic art, paired with visuals. He showed us a few examples of using waves and grids to generate visuals using processing. He continued to show us a couple programs he has written that visualize various aspects of sound (frequency and time domain visualization, etc). My favorite aspect he exposed me to is autocorrelation graphs. The algorithm compares the wave to itself at offset intervals then takes the average. I find this fascinating because of my interest with moire patterns: two sets of lines interfering with one another. I plan to investigate this further, and use it visually in my screen prints.
As a design major, I use motion graphics (after effects) a lot. Golan showed us early motion artists who used paint, chemicals, and shapes to visualize audio. I was glad to see early forms of audio and motion. One of my favorite movies is Walt Disney’s Fantasia, and we watched sections of films that inspired Disney to create that film. Norman McLaren was an experimenter who made sound from visual pieces, exploiting the film technology at the time. McLaren designed a film using graphical sound to create audio and visuals. The shapes on screen creates sounds the viewer hears. McLaren also uses the shapes to tell an intricate story full of emotion, especially humor, longing, and desire.