Sound

“As a term, ‘sound art’ is mainly of value in crediting site or object-specific works that are not intended as music… Much like rock and roll, a purist view of sound art becomes very narrow, and much of what is called or categorized as sound art can be just as easily viewed as a hyphenated fusion of sound art with an experimental music style.”

— Alan Light, 2009

 

Many critics tend to agree with the definition of ‘sound art’ as an artistic discipline which uses sound as the primary medium. However, its ambiguous nature often misleads the audience into deciding whether this practice counts as ‘music’ or something else altogether. With this in mind, I have come to the agreement that ‘music’ counts as a form of ‘sound art’: in addition to using sound as the primary, if not only medium, ‘music’ can map our “reality through metaphors of sound”, akin to “a parallel way of thinking” regarding “the visually dominant metaphors of our speech and written symbols” (Dunn, 1997).

Because the notion of ‘sound art’ is hard to define, it is thus capable of taking in many shapes and forms; this is comparable to the way ‘music’ can take on many different genres. ‘Sound art’ does not have to encompass the subject making the noise: occasionally the medium is appropriated from the subject’s surrounding environment, as illustrated by such works as “Hummingbird Clock” by Lawrence Abu Hamdan which utilizes sound as a surveillance device by recording the different buzzes in the electrical grid. Alongside this, ‘sound art’ can sometimes cross over with other art disciplines, as demonstrated in “Game of Skill 2.0” by Christine Sun Kim, in which sound and interactivity work together to create an experiential moment; here the audio is dependent on the audience’s movement along the allocated path. In addition to this, there are even occasions in which sound becomes the subject of the work, rather than the medium, as illustrated in “Studies” by Samson Young.

Arguably one of the most important principles in ‘sound art’ is the harmonious relationship between ‘density’ and clarity’ – that is, all of the sounds are “happening at once”, and yet they would be “heard distinctly” (Murch, 2005). When executed effectively, ‘sound art’ can lead the audience into “a transcendental or virtual domain of sound”, and thus shed new light on the concept of ‘music’ as a whole (Cox, 2009).

It should be duly noted that this interpretation of ‘sound art’ is not concrete and is subject to further research. Despite this, one can learn a lot more about various media art disciplines by looking deeply into the medium.

 

REFERENCES

 

Murch, W. (2005). Dense Clarity – Clear Density. Transom Review, 5(1), pp.7-23.

Cox, C. (2009). Sound art and the sonic unconscious. Organised Sound, 14(01), pp.19-26.

Dunn, D. (1997). Nature, sound art, and the sacred. Music from nature. Ed. by D. Rothenberg. Terra Nova, 2(3), pp.61-71.

Licht, A. (2009). Sound Art: Origins, development and ambiguities. Organised Sound, 14(01), pp.3-10.

Lawrence Abu Hamdan. (2016). Works. [online] Available at: http://lawrenceabuhamdan.com/#/the-hummingbird-clock/ [Accessed 24 Oct. 2016].

Christinesunkim.com. (2016). game of skill 2.0 : Christine Sun Kim. [online] Available at: http://christinesunkim.com/performance/game-of-skill/ [Accessed 24 Oct. 2016].

Thismusicisfalse.com. (2016). Studies – Samson Young. [online] Available at: http://www.thismusicisfalse.com/Studies [Accessed 24 Oct. 2016].

Interactive Art

“An interactive system is a machine system which reacts in the moment, by virtue of automated reasoning based on data from its sensory apparatus. An Interactive Artwork is such a system which addresses artistic issues. A painting is an instance of representation. A film is a sequence of representations. Interactive artworks are not instances of representation, they are virtual machines which themselves produces instances of representation based on real time inputs.”

— Simon Penny, 1996

 

The notion of ‘interactive art’ has baffled smart thinkers over the years, primarily because of the ambiguous nature surrounding the ‘interactive’ bit. However, while it is true that interactive artworks convey innovative messages, I do believe that these creative works can count as forms of representation, as they are clearly showcasing a subject of significant value. Take “Arboria” by Alan Parkinson, for example. While the audience can interact with the artwork by walking through and touching it, the work is representing a theme at the same time – in this case, trees.

Not all forms of ‘interactive art’ have to revolve around complex machinery and intricate systems. “Cloud” by Caitlind r.c. Brown and Wayne Garrett is one such artwork which does not utilize this: instead, the work is composed of basic objects such as pulley strings and light bulbs. In spite of its simplicity, there is a complex message hidden behind all the utilitarian materials and electronics. On the other hand, “Fireflies on the Water” by Yayoi Kusama embodies the complexities which categorize ‘interactive art’. Behind all the dazzling bright lights, there is the concealed notion of how we as humans see the whole universe.

It is interesting to note that the way in which ‘interactive art’ is depicted here would be comparable to a scientific experiment; so much so, in fact, that one would have to assume the notion that ‘interactive art’, by nature, would negate the overall purpose of art as a whole.

In summary, an interactive artwork by definition would have to “influence the form and/or content of the mediated presentation or experience” (Lombard and Ditton, 1997). The experiential artwork would subsequently shape itself in such a way that the artist no longer becomes “an object of study” but rather “the final target of their work” (Höök, Sengers and Andersson, 2003). In a way, then, ‘interactive art’ would count as a form of representation, as they would have to illustrate depictions based on audience input.

 

REFERENCES

 

Penny, S. (1997). Embodied cultural agents: at the intersection of robotics, cognitive science, and interactive art. In AAAI Socially Intelligent Agents Symposium.

Höök, K., Sengers, P. and Andersson, G. (2003). Sense and sensibility: evaluation and interactive art. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems (pp. 241-248). ACM.

Architects-of-air.com. (2016). Arboria. [online] Available at: http://www.architects-of-air.com/luminaria/arboria.html [Accessed 23 Oct. 2016].

Lombard, M. and Ditton, T. (1997). At the Heart of It All: The Concept of Presence. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 3(2).

Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett. (2012). CLOUD. [online] Available at: https://incandescentcloud.com/aboutcloud/ [Accessed 23 Oct. 2016].

Interactive.qag.qld.gov.au. (2016). Yayoi Kusama: An infinite consciousness directed at the cosmos. [online] Available at: http://interactive.qag.qld.gov.au/looknowseeforever/essays/infinite-consciousness-directed-at-the-cosmos/ [Accessed 23 Oct. 2016].

Mixed Realities

“The virtual space is a large scale society of agents. Our work in this area hinges on both multi-agent systems and on artificial life.”

— Walter Van de Velde, 1997

 

When we think of the words ‘media art’, we usually think of digital or analog artworks which showcase the many wonders of technology at work. What we often fail to realize, however, is that ‘media art’ embodies more than just the subject being shown – or the message that it is trying to convey, for that matter. I think that the audience is also part of the artwork,  in that the emotional response can serve as the artwork’s purpose. In other words, “the experience… can be something you do rather than something you are given” (Rokeby, 1998). Mixed-reality artworks arguably take this notion a step further, in that they do not just convey that purpose; in doing so, they immerse the audience in such a way that the concept of reality is distorted, if not shattered altogether.

Immersion is just one of several concepts embody the characteristics of mixed realities, as depicted in artworks such as “Appearance and Disappearance 2012” by Osaka Takuro. I feel that by immersing oneself into an artwork, he or she can acquire a strong experience out of it. However, I also feel that the extent to which the audience is induced into immersion is dependent on the artist’s intention. The notion of the “virtual space” is another aspect which plays a key role in shaping mixed realities, as it makes connections with the real and virtual worlds. Examples of these connections include virtual reality (VR), or augmented reality (AR). With the advent of such devices as PlayStation VR and the Oculus Rift, the ability to immerse oneself into an alternate reality has become more accessible than ever; artworks such as “Ixian Gate” by Jess Johnson and “The City of Forking Paths” by George Bures Miller and Janet Cardiff only prove this notion.

It is true that the “virtual space” takes up a large proportion of known space in this day and age, and that it is only possible to acquire a mixed reality through synthetic means. I believe, in fact, that it is impossible to achieve a mixed reality without using something digital. Given the changes that have happened since Van de Velde’s time – in addition to VR’s “limitless potential” as a creative tool – one can only assume at this point that VR – and other technologies like it – will “surpass predecessor interactive technologies” like touchscreens and video streaming (Burdea and Coiffet, 2003).

 

 

REFERENCES

 

Van de Velde, W. (1997). Co-habited mixed realities. In Proceedings of the IJCAI (Vol. 97).

NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC]. (2015). ICC | “Appearance and Disappearance 2012” – OSAKA Takuro (2012). [online] Available at: http://www.ntticc.or.jp/en/archive/works/appearance-and-disappearance-2012/ [Accessed 16 Oct. 2016].

Rokeby, D. (1998). The Construction of Experience: Interface as Content. Digital Illusion: Entertaining the Future with High Technology.

Ngv.vic.gov.au. (2016). Jess Johnson | NGV. [online] Available at: http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/jess-johnson/ [Accessed 16 Oct. 2016].

Burdea, G.C. and Coiffet, P. (2003). Virtual reality technology (Vol. 1). John Wiley & Sons.

City Art Sydney. (2016). The City of Forking Paths – City Art Sydney. [online] Available at: http://www.cityartsydney.com.au/artwork/the-city-of-forking-paths/ [Accessed 16 Oct. 2016].

New Romance: Art and the Posthuman

To be honest, I never expected a collaborative exhibition between Australian and Korean artists to work at all, let alone convey concepts very smoothly. That was probably the main reason why I found this gallery very interesting. There were a lot of interesting artworks to see here, but probably my favourite was Kibong Rhee’s Perpetual Snow. I liked how it questions the flow of life and the constant evolution of human development, all the while drawing circles and lines casually at a steady rate. I also liked the synthetic hand used to draw those shapes. It really gives off a unique vibe to me, especially given how the ‘falling snow’ motif is prominent in this artwork. The concept that the artwork is trying to convey – the disappearance and eventual obscurity of the human conscious – relly made me think.