On page 141, the author describes how the freedoms involved in navigable structures "exist(s) only in relation to the established structure; it is a representation of freedom, a symbolic freedom. By relinquishing a relatively small amount of control, an interactive artist can give interactors the impression that they have much more freedom than they actually do." This is obviously reminiscent of the effects of government in 'real life.' We are 'free' to navigate through our lives, yet we face restrictions and rules at every turn, sometimes without even consciously knowing it. Furthermore, video games give the user "an immediate sense of responsiveness" even though they are "still traveling along the same restricted path." The illusion present is one pertaining to free will. Are we truly free if there are a finite number of possibilities in any given direction? Or is this the persistent illusion itself?
Installation art is different from say, a painting on a wall, because it goes beyond cognitive activity. When a viewer interacts with the piece, they create it as much as the artist him/herself did. As a physically participatory form of art, it emphasizes the interconnectivity between us and our technological advancements.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Sound Project
I based my sound project on the second floor of the Katzen parking garage. The atmosphere is eerie, as it is dark and cold, so I incorporated elements such as whispers and a faint out-of-tune acordian to up the creepiness factor. I also took into account the fact that music practice rooms are above the garage by adding a faint angelic chorus. I wanted to convey the garage as kind of a melting-pot of sounds from the external and internal worlds. There are loud and soft footsteps, engines, hums, voices, dripping water, and music, which hopefully forced one to question what is real and what is a recording.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Sounding off on Sound Art
Sound art is a rather curious concept, as it is defined as neither sound nor art. Therefore is it a combination of atypical sound and art?
We are so used to sound we sometimes don't even notice it. It is extremely rare and perhaps even impossible for there to be complete and utter silence at any one given time. Even in what seems to be "silence" is a whole world of sound, vibrating and reverberating throughout our ears and bodies. I found it quite interesting to read about the "layering of sounds," because when we turn our music on in attempts to drown out other sounds, it's interesting to think how the sound we want to hear above all is still slightly altered due to the sounds underneathe.
The recognition of space altering sound is an attractive concept to me. Sound is relative to spacial construction, as the vibrations bounce off objects in space. As an extension of Einstein's theory of relativity, the string theory states that everything, from atoms to planets and beyond, is made up of oscillating lines or "strings." Could this be why "obstacles" in space don't stop the music, but add to it and become symphonic with it?
But I digress (slightly)...
Walter Ruttman created a "sound film without images," Weekend (1929), an eleven-minute, rapid montage of speech, noises, and music that he felt exemplified the "procedure of photographing audible phenomena in a nonstylized manner, with the inclusion of their specific spatial characteristics...Every audible in the the entire world becomes material." Sound art is in fact sound and art, but the standard perspectives and ideals of both change. As Rolf Julius writes,
"In divorcing sound from image, sound takes on a life of its own, and this is what makes the concept of sound art possible."
I recently downloaded two sound files. One was a five minute track of rain and the other a five minute track of birds chirping/leaves rustling ("sunny weather music"). I went outside in the rain and played the rain track. This added a new dimension to the reality, as the rain wasn't very heavy but the track portrayed intense rain fall. The actual rain felt wetter the sprinkles felt like dollops. During the "sunny weather" track, the rain felt much lighter and I could have sworn the sky looked bluer. Much of our our perceptions are reliant upon the sounds in our immediate environment. The facinating thing about sound art is that it allows us to magnify and/or change our immediate environment, in real time.
We are so used to sound we sometimes don't even notice it. It is extremely rare and perhaps even impossible for there to be complete and utter silence at any one given time. Even in what seems to be "silence" is a whole world of sound, vibrating and reverberating throughout our ears and bodies. I found it quite interesting to read about the "layering of sounds," because when we turn our music on in attempts to drown out other sounds, it's interesting to think how the sound we want to hear above all is still slightly altered due to the sounds underneathe.
The recognition of space altering sound is an attractive concept to me. Sound is relative to spacial construction, as the vibrations bounce off objects in space. As an extension of Einstein's theory of relativity, the string theory states that everything, from atoms to planets and beyond, is made up of oscillating lines or "strings." Could this be why "obstacles" in space don't stop the music, but add to it and become symphonic with it?
But I digress (slightly)...
Walter Ruttman created a "sound film without images," Weekend (1929), an eleven-minute, rapid montage of speech, noises, and music that he felt exemplified the "procedure of photographing audible phenomena in a nonstylized manner, with the inclusion of their specific spatial characteristics...Every audible in the the entire world becomes material." Sound art is in fact sound and art, but the standard perspectives and ideals of both change. As Rolf Julius writes,
"In divorcing sound from image, sound takes on a life of its own, and this is what makes the concept of sound art possible."
I recently downloaded two sound files. One was a five minute track of rain and the other a five minute track of birds chirping/leaves rustling ("sunny weather music"). I went outside in the rain and played the rain track. This added a new dimension to the reality, as the rain wasn't very heavy but the track portrayed intense rain fall. The actual rain felt wetter the sprinkles felt like dollops. During the "sunny weather" track, the rain felt much lighter and I could have sworn the sky looked bluer. Much of our our perceptions are reliant upon the sounds in our immediate environment. The facinating thing about sound art is that it allows us to magnify and/or change our immediate environment, in real time.
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