Author: Yutong Lin

Free Radicals (1958) is a film by Len Lye. Len Lye is an influential New Zealand artist by his pioneer works in film and kinetic sculpture. Free Radicals is one of his arguably most representative work. 

Lye worked directly on the celluloid film, creating a personal response to the indigenous music  – The Bagirmi Tribe of Africa by the form of audio-visual interactivity. According to Sophie Pinchetti in Free Radicals by Len Lye – Life on the Tribe Pulse: Len Lye’s art of Motion “Attacking and scratching the celluloid with scribers such as needles, dental tools and a Native American arrowhead, Lye described his anarchic mark-making on celluloid as ‘white ziggle-zag-splutter scratches in quite doodling fashion.” The “brushes” he uses, which are “needles, dental tools and a Native American arrowhead,” to create his visuals are quite simple, yet symbolic, open for interpretation. One can argue they represent the mythical and ritualistic nature in music and visualized in resemblance to ancient rock arts. One can also argue the dynamism among the interactions of the different instruments speaks about the fear of the unknown. Just to demonstrate my conceptualizations of the project, there is, of course, plenty of room for other interpretations. 

On the other hand, I think the visual aesthetic that is unique to Len Lye is quite powerful as well. Before the age of mass reproduction of art became really easy and accessible, each scratch and mark he made onto the films are permanent and personal. However, it may somehow limit him as well. Therefore, given the conditions of the ubiquity of digital tools in the production of the film, performance design, VJ and more, today, as artists and critical thinkers, we should really reflect upon the legacy of the previous avant-garde artists, but conditioned ourselves to today’s age and think about more possibilities of audio-visual interactions.  

Link to my patcher:

https://gist.github.com/Amber-yutong-lin/9d6f3132074a90f4528554e6f5f78cde

Screenshot:

Sound export from Max:

For this project, I learned about the workflow of a simple synth sound generating system. I also learned about how the different input values can change the output drastically. What I found most interesting about my experimentation is the sound waveforms in the oscillator, Feedback delay, and Gigaverb.

The four waveforms are the voltage signals which generate sounds accordingly. I found the first one more most subtle in its analog wave and the second most crispy among the four. Secondly, to adjust the overall tone and pitch range of the synthesizer, I also played with the LPF (Low-pass filter). I also added more steps in the oscillator to experiment with more possibilities. 

  

I am Sitting in a Room by Alvin Lucier (1969) is a sound art performance piece. I was quite astonished by the piece in its conceptual depth and experiential consistency. Ever since I understood the concept of the project, which is the beginning of Alvin’s statement, I became really intrigued to hear what it will turn out to be. 

Due to the experimental nature in a time-based experience setting, the expectation was rather evolving even though I already imagined what it would hear like in my mind. What is in my mind though, is an abstract conceptual framework that tried to image the soundscape of it, that I understood it would be more echoing, and the distinguishment of the “voice” as sound would disappear and maybe some sort of musical presentation of the voice would be there in the end. However, all these imaginations lack the power of the tangibility and direct sensory response. And that is the power of this piece. The voice turned to be more like cello from my perspective once reinforced again and again in the physical space. And the rise-and-falls of the soundwave really speaks about the abstraction of voice as sound. 

For its philosophical consideration, I think it employs a mathematical methodology, which is adding oneself to its previous self. However, each time the evolving result can be described as being “multiplied” rather than added since the spatial and temporal complexity constitutes the soundscape as well. Time and space here are compressed and documented in the recording process. I think it is poetic. It is also a radical response to what is considered music and the production of music. Like Martha Joseph illustrates in Collecting Alvin Lucier’s I Am Sitting in a Room, “Indeed, the conceptual crux of the work is a radical reversal of the logic of musical composition: rather than using traditionally musical means to create sounds, Lucier used a technological process to reveal naturally occurring acoustic phenomena.” I think I am Sitting in a Room is such a masterpiece and I am in awe of it!    

Link to the pitcher:

Video 2, 3:

https://gist.github.com/Amber-yutong-lin/b6b0c6485338411254737d0d0c99d2d6

Video 4:

https://gist.github.com/Amber-yutong-lin/fd18267322f81d4fd5eabe8d14c4f549

Screenshot of the patcher:

Video2, Video3: PIXL8R

 

Sources videos: 

AR_8BIT_2.mov

AR_8BIT_4.mov

I  mainly use XFADR to crossfade the two source and conditioned them to HUSALIR to add different effects whose speed are controlled by ATTRACTR, I also apply DELYR to manipulate the time. The output from HUSALIR connects to PIXL8R, which transforms the visuals to pixelated rectangles. The speed of the changing effect is also controlled by ATTRACTR.  

Video 3 : LUMAKEYR, ZAMPLR, ALPHABLNDR

To explore more about the color composition and layout possibilities, I added LUMAKEYR, ZAMPLR, ALPHABLNDR to create different styles and patterns.

Video 4: Generative objects – PATTERNMAPPR 

Source video: 

AR_8BIT_2.mov 

I also want to play with the generative effects that are inherited in Vizzie. So I blend the source video’s alpha channel (ALPHABLNDR) with PATTERNMAPPR to create a new visual. I adjusted the parameters multiple times to get the visual that I want. ROTATR also makes the visual to a more kaleidoscope-like effect. 

For this project, I had a lot of fun. But wished to know more alpha channel and 4OSCIL8R, OSCIL8R, 1EASEMAPPR……etc.!

I found this VR performance piece by Kaitlyn Hova What’s It Like To Hear Colors? – A VR 360° Synesthesia Experience, in which she plays the violin while showing the color that she sees when hearing the music. In this way, she visualizes her experience that is very unique and personal to her. Moreover, she chooses to adopt VR as her creative formate to make it more immersive and empathetic to a wider audience.

Her synesthesia is that when she hears music, the notes prove a color in her mind. This kind of synesthesia is characterized as photisms, which is defined as ”colored hearing,” “in which spoken words, letters, numbers, voices, or sounds activate visual impressions like color s and/ or figures” (Emrich et al. 415). The cause of the phenomenon can be linked with different hypotheses and the way the brain process sensory information.      

I think her way of constructing the experience is quite powerful, the content and its form get along well together. The narration of her experience helps to contextualize the performance well. And, the beautiful landscape and natural view of the shooting location resonate with the glittery color indications of the notes.