Author: cy1323

Personal Reflection:

The piece I have chosen to research and reflect upon is Oskar Fischinger’s “Study No.7,” my favorite video out of the entire collection. When watching the videos in class, Fischinger’s film intrigued me the most and left a lasting impression on both my eyes and my mind. Its simplistic choices of color and object designs allow the piece to stand out against the colorful and chaotic compilations of either Norman McLaren or Walther Ruttmann. The entirely black and white video was the only video I thought worked best with its choice of music (usage of music). The rough-edged white strokes, waves, curls, and rectangles moved in a fluid-like motion, reappearing and disappearing to the sound of the music, almost as if they were dancing to it.

History (Research):

Created in 1931, “Study No. 7” is just a small piece of a larger collection. The film originates from a series of abstract Studies created and synchronized to a mixture of both popular and classical music in the 20th century. The 12 piece series received worldwide recognition throughout the 1930s and proved Fischinger to be an artistic staple in the world of abstract film and a pioneer in music videos. Fischinger strongly believed that art should be a pleasurable experience, which is a notion he applied in all of his “study” films. The music used in “Study No.7” is the classic, Hungarian Dance No. 5, a soundtrack radiating both energy and happiness. 

Artistic Procedure:

Through extensive research, little to no information was found on the step by step procedure taken by Fischinger to complete the masterpiece that is “Study No.7” and its expansive series. Indeed, the accuracy of existing articles can not be confirmed, however, it is interesting to vision Fischinger dedicating his personal time to experiment with charcoal-on-paper animation, which ultimately resulted in The Study (As stated on Wikipedia). The artist was looking for something new and extravagant and was able to achieve this with simple yet innovative materials at the time. The usage of fixed and organic shapes dancing across the screen seems to depict the notions of freedom of thought, freedom of movement and freedom of imagination. It is a memorable piece in the archive of abstract film.

Arguments:

Some may argue however that Fischinger’s usage of simplistic visual information does not pay respect to the theme of synesthesia between visual and auditory senses. Whereas other artists in the compilation showed in class exercised radiant and eye-piercing colors, ranging anywhere from blue to purple to red and to yellow, Fischinger chose to stay within the shades of both black and white (Some would label, “playing it safe”). The usage of only these two colors causes absence in a synesthetic relationship between the film and its sound. In the first few weeks, I was able to view synesthesia through the lens of artistic creator, Melissa McCracken. I learned through her phenomenal condition, the mix of color and sound that were caused by misinterpretations of stimuli in the brain. This sensual stimulation between color and audio is not prominent in Fishinger’s art. 

Works Cited:

“Oskar Fischinger’s Bibliography.” Fischinger – CVM Pages, Center For Visual Music, www.centerforvisualmusic.org/Fischinger/.

“Oskar Fischinger.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 July 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oskar_Fischinger.

“Oskar Fischinger Study No. 7 (Excerpt).” Vimeo, Center for Visual Music, 1931, vimeo.com/342597616.

Link to my gist  

Assignment:

For this third assignment, the class continued its journey into the Max application and started to work with  audio components through the usage of  ‘Beep.’  I was told to create 2 separate synthesizers, one pertained from class and the other, an original. Out of all of the sections we’ve completed up till now, I would have to say that Beap was the most difficult to work with and get the hang of. 

Process:

I experimented around a lot with various aspects of Beap on the second synthesizer before mixing it with the original. There were so many components under each of the required categories (Mixer, Level, Filter, Effect),  that I honestly felt quite overwhelmed in the beginning phases. It was frustrating when I was anticipating a result but was given something entirely different. Nonetheless, I am still quite satisfied with the end results of the assignment.

I re-used the sequencer as an input, identical to the first synthesizer on the left. Following, I used the same two oscillators for the track,  but instead of using the top-right and top-left corner options, I opted for the top-right as well as top-left choices, which I believe are the sine and triangle effects. I mixed the two with an audio mixer and attached them to an HPF for further distortion of the audio. 

Afterward, I connected an Xfade component to both outputs of the sequencers and delayed its results through a smooth delay instead of the feedback delay found in Synthesizer 1. I finally mixed the two audios through another audio mixer to combine synthesizer 1 and 2 for the end results that were released through a final stereo component. 

In the end, I ended up with very distorted and warped audio that strangely resembled a video sequence which I find to be quite common in the products I’ve created in the course. I wish that I could have made the combination of the two synthesizers even more congruent and flattering to one another, but due to my unfamiliarity and amateurish understandings of the medium, I was not able to produce such results. 

Screen Recording of Assignment

Response:

When I first began listening to the videotape of I am Sitting in A Room, I quickly began to question many aspects of the assignment as well as the material itself. I was confused as to how the reiteration of a man’s speech could tie in relevancy to the course’s focus on real-time audiovisual performances. I closed my eyes and listened intensely to the man’s voice, taking in every single stutter he tried to smooth out and without realizing, I began to mouth and speak the words in unison with the performer. I slowly fell into a trance, almost dozing off to sleep with how soothing the performer’s voice was, partnered with the choppy yet eloquent stutters that brought maturity and smoothness to the overall performance. I barely even realized how Lucier’s voice was gradually and gradually becoming overpowered by the intensity of the environmental music being created. I only realized this haziness in Lucier’s speech at the 4-minute mark. The changes in tone and clarity were so minor in its parts, yet so intense in its whole that I was so amazed when I compared the endings with its beginnings. I had undergone what is known as, in biological terms, adaptive hearing. As I could no longer hear Lucifer’s voice, the low and high-frequency sounds that hit my eardrums varied between ear-screeching and surprisingly soothing. It is honestly crazy to see how a man reiterating a single sentence is able to create such a lasting effect on listeners and artists alike.

While the listening portion of the assignment granted me access into the actual art and music of I am Sitting in a Room, the reading portion provided by MoMA INSIDE/OUT delineated the logistics behind the creation. I learned its intricate yet simplistic process of having Lucier record a speech in a relatively empty room and play that recording back into the room for repetition of the steps. I could visualize in my head the actual environment of the room, and understand how, as the room’s resonant frequencies grew and reinforced with each recording, the environmental music slowly but surely made its presence known.

Art, in my understanding, had always been a vast and ambiguous title. I thought that just about anything could fit under the brand, as long as creativity and thought were placed into the product or finding. With a range that expanded from digital art to physical installations and to visual effects, I certainly did not leave out the realms of sound and music. This assignment merely reinforced the position of sound and music within the context of art and showed just how frequently we can find art in our environments.

Github: https://gist.github.com/cy1323/fc21d39d113a3e6894a59629d9dfbafe

Videos:   1 & 2

Plan: When provided the assignment, I didn’t have many ideas to branch off of due to my unfamiliarity with Max and Vizzie Visuals. As I continued to play around with the components involved I thought that I would stick to the resources provided to create a vivid/eyecatching piece. I wanted, through this assignment, to create a visual that incorporated the theme of retro with a modern twist. When looking at the materials provided in the course, my eyes immediately took notice of the Pacman figures that seemed to blink across the screen. I knew that I needed to incorporate them into my final project. I wished for an explosion of color that would partner the live camera action, in an attempt to reform the Pacman figures into modern times. 

Process: I first placed three separate INPUT boxes onto the new patcher. Within them, I prepared the two stock videos (Ar_8BIT_6 and Ar_8BIT_5) and the live camera footage.

First, I thought that I would play with the orientation and position of the GRABBR footage, for I found the perfectly placed video oddly offsetting and bland. I settled on the ROTATR transform effect and manipulated the dials until I was satisfied with the overall angle of the imaging. I also thought, similar to the stock videos, the live camera should have some sort of fluid movement to it, hence the usage of the TWIDDLR generate component. With the TWIDDLR, I was able to move the x offset dial (ROTATR) smoothly throughout the video. I then attached the KALEIDR transform effect to PLAYR1 in order to, as the application indicates, provide a “kaleidoscope-like image folding.” Despite not completely understanding what the explanation delineated, I was intrigued and ultimately, significantly satisfied with the distorted effect made on the video.

Afterward, I decided that it would be best to form a merge between these first two videos. I avoided the CHROMAKEYR mentioned in class and chose to use the LUMAKEYR instead. This Mix-Composite effect gave the combination of videos a static effect while using its method of ‘luma keying.’

Moving on, I ended up at the final video, PLAYR2. With this being the main influence of my assignment, I spent a lot of time fundling with the various effects in order to make the animation stand out even more, most specifically, when faded into the first two sections. I finally settled on the PANNR  transform effect that would help me reposition the footage to any area of the canvas. I thought that this effect would work best when randomized and therefore, used the RANDOMIZER to make the PANNR’s results arbitrary and unforeseen. 

Finally, I connected all three video/footage files through a MIXFADR component at the very end. I wanted to exercise even more of the information learned and so chose to use both a GENERATE and CONTROLLER element to handle the crossfade function of the final MIXFADR. The FADR (Controller) and the TWIDDLER (Generate) used gave the overall video a fluid feeling and supported the theme of retro + modernity. 

The choice of art I have chosen to discuss for this reading response comes from Melissa McCracken’s collection of synesthesia paintings, in which she translates her reactions to music and sound into art through the usage of oil paints, brushes, and a canvas. She has created various pieces, ranging from genres of pop, classical and her ultimate favorite, jazz. Stemming from her frustration in having to constantly explain the perceptual phenomenon generated through her united senses, McCracken turned to the visual arts to aid her in expressing this sense of ‘colored hearing.’ (As delineated within this week’s reading of “Synesthesia, A Neurological Phenomenon” written by Hinderk M. Emrich, Janina Neufeld, and Christopher Sinke) Through this colored hearing in the realm of genuine synesthesia, McCracken’s mind “automatically and involuntarily” (418) perceives spoken words, letters and or sounds through visual representations like “colors and/or figures, so-called photisms” (415). This rare neurological condition, which as the Kansas-based synesthete states, occurs through the cross-wiring of the brain that causes certain stimuli to create unique responses to everyday things. Apart from McCracken, there are only a few other artists exercising their shared ability through the outlet of visual art. 

   

I believe that this form of visual output is crucial to both the art world and the scientific universe. As mentioned in the article as well as Jamie Ward and Samantha Moore’s research through Synaesthesia and Sound, visualized synaesthetic photisms are frequently “perceived as particularly aesthetic even by non-synesthetes” (415). They bring vibrant pieces of illustration, cross-wiring of colors and transformation techniques to the genre, all while carrying a unique sense of personal taste and commitment. It’s as if inviting the spectator into the literal mind of the synesthete artist. On other terms, the visualization of genuine synesthesia not only raises interest in non-synesthetes regarding the existence of such phenomenons but also brings scientists and researchers margins closer to understanding the condition as a whole. Furthermore, with its relation to the human brain’s functionality, the artistic output of McCracken and several other synesthete artists provide the curious with much-needed intuition into human perception.