I met and worked with Dave at Delirium, an exhibition that we were both involved in at Dolston, London earlier in 2020. Dave works in the AV industry, with experimentation being part of his DNA, it came as no surprise me that he's interested in AR. When I got a copy of his new album, NonLinearthe I have to confess I had no real expectations.
I put it on for a quick listen expecting to skim over it. Every track seems to have a uniqueness. There's so much diversity - so many different, striking sounds. Comforting warm synths are soon replaced with squalid bleeps & baselines. Much to my daughters embarrassment I found myself bouncing around the room by the time Aerolith dropped. I listened to it over & over.
There's so many early 90's electronic music references, some of the samples sound like they're off those old sample packs were sometimes only available on DAT. Then the penny drops. They are from the sample packs because the whole album is analogue. Dave explain: "many of the tracks were just little recorded pieces I made during the process of selling loads of synths last year that I developed into tunes."
There's so many early 90's electronic music references, some of the samples sound like they're off those old sample packs were sometimes only available on DAT. Then the penny drops. They are from the sample packs because the whole album is analogue. Dave explain: "many of the tracks were just little recorded pieces I made during the process of selling loads of synths last year that I developed into tunes."
Dave's work is analogue and has a rawness that is rare to find in todays polished, digital, over-processed world. I can really feel the energy coming through his compositions. I wanted to match that energy with a visual, that was equality raw and minimal and didn't detract from the album. Monochrome is understated yet stands up on it's own. A strong logo design needs to work in black & white, so I applied this design concept to the visuals - they need to punch through and work without any distractions with colour.
Dave's a fan of lazer Oscilloscopes & he has used a one to output these shapes:
The same lazer oscilloscope also features in his partner & Oram Award winner, Loula Yorke's live sets. There's something beautifully simplistic about these shapes. I liked the idea of creating similar, minimal, linear shapes in monochrome, but having more control over the output and letting the audio really drive the visuals on another level that wasn't possible with the physical lazer oscilloscope.
Consequently I started investigated what digital Oscilloscope could look like. Started with a simple grid of X and Y , I created oscillation of this grid from the audio triggering displacement on the Y axis. That really formed the basis of the whole project, the rest of it was making it look pretty. I forced myself to only tweak a limited number of parameters - so X / Y gain, twist, rotation and creation of a circular radius were really all I used
I also used different cameras / angles to get right into the comp, no lights used at all.
Effect wise it was stripped back the bone focusing on the form was the most appealing aspect of it, presenting the composition in it's naked glory
It's not 100% processing - a lot of the movement in the camera & the positioning is my choice, so it's a mix of curation and processing. That part interested me, I'm not a coder and generating artwork for me always has a large element of human interaction.
Effect wise it was stripped back the bone focusing on the form was the most appealing aspect of it, presenting the composition in it's naked glory
It's not 100% processing - a lot of the movement in the camera & the positioning is my choice, so it's a mix of curation and processing. That part interested me, I'm not a coder and generating artwork for me always has a large element of human interaction.
The concept by this point is feeling solid, but possibly too fluid to marry with Dave's raw / analogue sound. I keep refining my process, which eventually became a mix of generative art and human curation. The visuals became a process like making (timeline based) electronic music - figure out what the concept is, what tools to use, then work on finding a hook within each composition. changing parameters until an aesthetic look is achieved.
Eventually, a more Lo-fi aesthetic developed. A couple of tracks - particularly Neither led to this next development - Chords are so warm and delicate- I wanted to represent them - was trying to imagine what twisting the chords from a harp in 3d would look like.
There's a recurring the circle. My fav album track was Aerolith - his music video uses a circle - so mine followed suit. In fact - on all of them the circle is a the centre of it, it's just that they have become very abstract.
Investigations into waveforms led me to discover Wave–particle duality & diffraction and I kept finding the circle featuring in all cases.
There's a recurring the circle. My fav album track was Aerolith - his music video uses a circle - so mine followed suit. In fact - on all of them the circle is a the centre of it, it's just that they have become very abstract.
Investigations into waveforms led me to discover Wave–particle duality & diffraction and I kept finding the circle featuring in all cases.
Thomas Young's sketch of two-slit diffraction of light.
The circle is a universal symbol with extensive meaning. It represents the notions of totality, wholeness, original perfection, the Self, the infinite, eternity, timelessness, all cyclic movement, God ('God is a circle whose centre is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere' (Hermes Trismegistus)).
The outcome of the first part of this project were nine framed circles which were featured in the INTERACTIVE exhibition in Leicester.
INTERACTIVE AT THE LCB DEPOT
INTERACTIVE ran last month - It was an exhibition at the LCB Depot in Leicester focusing on
Virtual, Mixed, Augmented Reality, UX design & Interactive Art.
To accommodate the fact that there wouldn't be anyone allowed into the gallery, the whole exhibition was pushed up to the front of the Lightbox Gallery window, to create, ( and perhaps recontextualizing ) a pedestrian exhibition. Anyone passing could interact with some of the artwork from off the streets.
Live for the whole Feb 2021 - you could experience a selection of interactive artworks through the window of the Lightbox Gallery or online.
10 pieces were displaced in the window of the LCB Depot, which could also trigger the animation in Augmented Reality by using the @Graff.io AR App.
INTERACTIVE ran last month - It was an exhibition at the LCB Depot in Leicester focusing on
Virtual, Mixed, Augmented Reality, UX design & Interactive Art.
To accommodate the fact that there wouldn't be anyone allowed into the gallery, the whole exhibition was pushed up to the front of the Lightbox Gallery window, to create, ( and perhaps recontextualizing ) a pedestrian exhibition. Anyone passing could interact with some of the artwork from off the streets.
Live for the whole Feb 2021 - you could experience a selection of interactive artworks through the window of the Lightbox Gallery or online.
10 pieces were displaced in the window of the LCB Depot, which could also trigger the animation in Augmented Reality by using the @Graff.io AR App.
RESIDENCY at the LCB Depot
Next project now! Offer the Lightbox gallery for a week - as a RESIDENCY.
Jumped at that -worked there for a week.
Brought in a large format printer [vid]
Started to project idea's ( using making tape ! ) onto the walls
Blank canvas for me - I could do anything I wanted.
Started by developing the work I'd done
This ended up on the PROCESS WALL
Next phase of the proj: taking on frame from the 2d animation - and making it 3d. Depth map - essentially warping it around a 3d shape - keeping in line with the circle
Here I wanted to push the limit of what could be achieved in AR, out of the 2d paradigm - and into something that interacts with your environment - better. Transending the early phase of AR - ( 2d ) and moving into this next phase
Next project now! Offer the Lightbox gallery for a week - as a RESIDENCY.
Jumped at that -worked there for a week.
Brought in a large format printer [vid]
Started to project idea's ( using making tape ! ) onto the walls
Blank canvas for me - I could do anything I wanted.
Started by developing the work I'd done
This ended up on the PROCESS WALL
Next phase of the proj: taking on frame from the 2d animation - and making it 3d. Depth map - essentially warping it around a 3d shape - keeping in line with the circle
Here I wanted to push the limit of what could be achieved in AR, out of the 2d paradigm - and into something that interacts with your environment - better. Transending the early phase of AR - ( 2d ) and moving into this next phase
The Outcomes
On top of the AR exhibition, the other outcome was an augmented reality audio sampler.
These are interactive 3d sculptures. Each sculpture has 5 layers, which are based on a chosen frame from the animation above. Close proximity to each layer triggers the corresponding audio track / sample to play. The result is, a simpler audio sampler that can be played in augmented reality.
I envisaged it as white in the gallery - but ended up adding colour.
The 3d objects in here are part of the collab.
Each one of the curated single frames from the 2d animation became 3d
The second part to the collab involved taking a series of frames from the 2d animation and sculpting them in 3d.
The series of 3d sculptures were positioned inside each other, and through the use of 3d Augmented reality, each layer could be explored, with your proximity to each layer triggering an animation, as well as a sample based on the frame.
The end result is a 3d sculpture that can be experienced in your own space and an interactive 3d sampler.
The end result was that the whole gallery was populated with artwork
--BREAK--
I have rendered a selection of the 2d animations from the original Nonlinearthe project and converted them into 3d digital sculptures. These objects offer a unique interactive experience when they appear in AR. As the viewer walks around them, sounds are triggered based on the proximity to the AR camera. The sculptures can effectively be played a little like a musical instrument, with your proximity triggering a unique sample from Dave's Synth coupled with a corresponding animation.
I have rendered a selection of the 2d animations from the original Nonlinearthe project and converted them into 3d digital sculptures. These objects offer a unique interactive experience when they appear in AR. As the viewer walks around them, sounds are triggered based on the proximity to the AR camera. The sculptures can effectively be played a little like a musical instrument, with your proximity triggering a unique sample from Dave's Synth coupled with a corresponding animation.
