Cart 352 : David BK

Final Project Proposal

2010-03-11T01:04:00.002-05:00

With the final project, I hope to create a five-minute animation that explores the idea of texture in image and sound. I plan on using images obtained through sequential photography, captured using time-lapse or stop motion.

I would like to take the idea of the closeup, using macro photography, and allow viewers to perceive aspects of everyday life through new perspectives. This kind of photography allows one to see the shapes and textures of familiar objects at levels of detail similar to looking through a magnifying glass, transforming the recognizable into abstract patterns.

With the use of editing, timing, and juxtaposition of images, I plan to rhythmically flow from one texture to another. I hope to associate these patterns with real and artificial sounds, making a synthetic link between texture of image and texture of sound.

Test Stills

Motion Test

Inventory of Images

cloth, fabric
dust, dirt
rock, asphalt, concrete
skin, hair

Inventory of Sounds

scratching, scraping
traffic
paper rustling
brush/broom sweeping

Reference

Brothers Quay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6xG4Nf9Dh4

Oskar Fishigner
http://www.oskarfischinger.org/
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/PvmbCzO1q48/

Norman McLaren
http://www.nfb.ca/playlists/mclaren/viewing/begone_dull_care_caprice_couleurs/

Steven Woloshen
http://showcase.awn.com/showgallery.php?ppuser=29&cat=500

Len Lye
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T33tS9FeS3U&feature=player_embedded

Mid-Term Project

2010-03-10T13:09:00.001-05:00

The assigned task of the mid-term project was to explore the sound-space relationship, and to create a 5 minute audio piece to be heard in a specific context. With my project, I decided to create a piece made specifically for the EV-5-615 Smart Room.

In creating the sound mix, I decided to confine myself to sounds of the room itself, with very minimal effect adjustments. Taking advantage of the rooms 5.1 surround capabilities, I re-situated sampled sounds back into the space. The piece has the requirement of having a pre-existing familiarity with the sounds of the space. My intention was to force listeners to question what they were hearing, and to alter the perception of the environment through use of sounds sampled from the space itself.

The piece was originally presented using a 5-channel mix. However for the purposes of online listening, a 2-channel stereo mix is available for download.

http://download805.mediafire.com/yykp5yfytjqg/aozummtnkbt/davidbk_midterm.mp3

Class Presentation: Rob Ley - Responsive Environments

2010-03-10T12:39:00.000-05:00

Slide-show from the class presentation on the topic of architectural art installation in the works of Rob Ley.

http://download644.mediafire.com/mjkmxrvzax1g/cgj2dzxozk2/davidbk_presentation.pdf

Project 1 Proposal

2010-01-28T00:04:00.004-05:00

For this first project I hope to create an electroacoustic sound piece, designed specifically to be heard in the EV-5-615 Smart Room. By mixing sounds obtained in field recording, I hope to create a work that changes the shape of the space, forcing listeners to question what they hear. My ultimate goal in this project would be for listeners to end up with a greater awareness of the sounds of the space.

To go about this task, I first plan to present listeners with a reflection of the room with sound. The piece would commence with sounds of the space and the people within it. Listeners will come to accept that what they hear is "normal", and that there is nothing out of the ordinary. As time goes on, new sounds will become present, progressively altering the character of the space. This character will evolve over time, taking the listener's perceptions along with it.

After progressively adding to, and building up the layers of sound, the room will reach a state of near chaos. I then hope to suddenly juxtapose noise with silence. In this abrupt cut to silence, I hope to make it clear to the listeners the sound of the actual space.

In order to be successful at accomplishing this project, I must acquire a good understanding of the space and the audio equipment, as well as the arrangement of this equipment within the space. In order to create an adequate illusion of reality, I also need to pay close attention to quality of sound.

I hope that listeners walk away from the experience being more attuned to the sounds that surround them.

Field Recordings
- room ambience
- voices, crowds, people
- movement of chairs, doors opening and closing, other furniture
- street traffic
- amplified sounds of the body, breathing, rustling of clothing, heartbeat
- white noise

Graphic Notation

Links

http://www.cardiffmiller.com/artworks/inst/motet.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6nCFy_81n

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNM37dnKnyc&feature=related

http://www.bernhardleitner.at/en/71inv_2.html

http://www.eai.org/eai/title.htm?id=2787

Sound Art (Part 2)

2010-01-28T00:03:00.006-05:00

The term sound art has been under much debate as to what it means. Sound is a special medium, as there is no such thing as absence of sound, and we cannot turn off our hearing at will. With sound, composers can create soundscapes, altering the listener's perception of space. Is interesting to compare music with noise, two ideas that have been increasingly challenged with the advancement of technology. Sound has a unique way in which it relates to the art world, in that it is purely time-based, and either constructs or submits to time. Morton Feldman concludes that his compositions are in fact "time canvases".

http://www.annealockwood.com/compositions.htm

http://www.cardiffmiller.com/artworks/inst/motet.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6nCFy_81n

http://www.bernhardleitner.at/en/73unters1_2.html

http://www.musikrat.de/index.php?id=5987&no_cache=1&L=4

http://www.douglashollis.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aGUPZc53cQ

Soundscape and Graphic Notation

2010-01-21T01:41:00.009-05:00

I decided to create a new sound piece for this project. I took some of the material I used last week, and did some edits including adding multiple tracks, automated levels, and effects. The sounds were taken from a field recording of walking down the street and up some steps into an apartment. You can hear sounds of footsteps, a key and lock, a bell hung on the door, coat zippers, and the sound of a tow truck blasting it's horn somewhere in the background.

Here is the sound piece and graphic notation.

Sound Art

2010-01-20T18:26:00.005-05:00

Lectures and Readings by John Cage: Silence

John Cage discussed the role of sound, noise and experimental music. He compares and contrasts music with noise, saying although both involve sound, music has organization. Cage discusses the evolution of the medium, and how technology is allowing artists to look at sound in new ways, as well as creating synthetic sound. Another important element of sound is the fact that it must be heard in some sort of context or setting. Each listening can be thought of as a unique performance, evoking specific emotions to each audience member.

The Soundscape

This reading discussed how various movements influenced sound. New sounds emerged along with new technologies. Not only did the soundscape change, but so did our perceptions of sound. We find ourselves today in an overpopulated soundscape, with acoustic spaces continually expanding. The article also discussed sound notation, and a graphical notation for sound. In what ways can such a variable, time-based medium be described in a static way? Sound is very subjective, and it is interesting when one tries to find a fixed form of classification for sound.

It's Sound, It's Art, and Some Call It Music
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/09/arts/it-s-sound-it-s-art-and-some-call-it-music.html

The Art of Noise by David Toop
http://www.tate.org.uk/tateetc/issue3/theartofnoise.htm

Space is a Place (and a compositional tool as well)
http://www.audium.org/omhpp.cgi?src=article.em.hpp

New ontology of music
http://www.artnotart.com/fluxus/njpaik-newontologyofmusic.html

redlighthaze by Achim Wollscheid
http://www.selektion.com/members/wollscheid/default.htm
http://www.selektion.com/members/wollscheid/video/redlighthaze.html

Field Recording

2010-01-13T21:44:00.002-05:00

A field recording of ambiance while walking through the school hallways, into the metro. Recorded with the CDA's Roland R1 Wave Recorder.

http://davidbk.freecp.net/misc/cart352/davidbk_field_recording.mp3

Synesthesia

2010-01-12T15:58:00.011-05:00

This week's reading, The Hidden Sense: Synesthesia in Art and Science, discussed how synesthesia could be thought of as a fusion of the sense. People known as synesthetes have the rare ability to see sound in colour, texture, or form. These visualizations are often determined by the source of the sound, with each distinct sound creating a unique image. It is interesting to note that different synesthetes each have unique visions, and that visualizations are about as different as personal preference.

Not only can sound invoke images, image can also invoke sound. Often, these sound-image associations are consistent. Studies have shown that anyone can experience these sensations, but simply may not be conscious of them. Over history, there have been many artists and composers who have brought their abilities into practice. Composers have been known to sketch sound, and artists have been known to paint to music. In the earliest stages of development, an infant may not differentiate between the senses. Synesthesia may be a result of this carried on later in life.

Research:

Daniel Tammet can see personality in numbers. He sees each positive number up to 10 000 with a distinct shape and colour, and has the ability to perform huge calculations in his head. He was able to recite over twenty thousand digits of Pi from memory in five hours.

The following is a watercolour painting by Daniel of the number Pi.

Boy with the Incredible Brain
http://www.mymultiplesclerosis.co.uk/misc/danieltammet.html

Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Tammet

Video Documentary
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4913196365903075662#

Timothy B. Layden is an artist experimenting with creating paintings to music.
http://www.tblayden.com/

George Bush is like crusty potato is an article discussing the mixing of the senses, and the ability to taste sounds and images.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7320452.stm

According to James Wannerton, Gordon Brown the Prime Minister of the UK, tastes like Marmite.

Feeling Blue is an article discussing associations between letters and numbers with colour.
http://aands.virginia.edu/x1056.xml

For Some, Pain is Orange discusses how sights and sounds can be linked with colour, or even emotion.
http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/question.asp?mcasyear=2006&district=001&school=&grade=10&subjectcode=ELA&questionnumber=7