bound - critical analysis

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Bound- Critical Analysis

Andrew Logie - 1201803

Norwich University of the ArtsMA Moving Image and Sound


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Andrew Logie (1201803) MA Moving Image and Sound

Contents Page

Contents Page 2

Table of illustrations 3

Introduction 4

Section 1: Artistic Inuences 4

1.1: Ryoichi Kurokawi 4

1.2: Daito Manabe 5

1.3: Aether - Thomas Sanchez and Gilberto Castro 6

1.4: Other inuences 7

Section 2: Theoretical Inuences 8

Section 3: Collaboration, experimentation and project development 10

Conclusion 12

Bibliography 14

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Table of illustrations

Figure. 1 Sirens, Ryoichi Kurokawi, 2012. 5

Figure. 2 Eclipse/Blue by Noisaj Thing, Daito Manabe, 2012. 6

Figure. 3 Aether, Thomas Sanchez and Gilberto Castro, 2014. 6

Figure. 4 The Treachery of Sanctuary, Chris Milk, 2014. 7

Figure. 5 Sub-atomic decay patterns, Kysa Johnson, 2014. 9

Figure. 6 Sketchbook Extract, Andrew Logie, 2014. 11

Figure. 7 Worldwide views www.andrewlogie.co.uk, Andrew Logie, 2014. 12

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Introduction

The aim of this project was to draw on the range of skills developed over the course of the MA and create

an interactive audio-visual installation. This installation was to be based on an ongoing theme in my

recent work, the exploration of particle physics from a hybrid science/art perspective. I had several keyaims for the project; to create a synergy between image and sound, to create an interactive experience

via a pleasurable medium and to continue my previous research and exploration of particle science in

relation to art. This lead to the production of the nal piece of work, Bound.

This critical analysis will discuss the research, methodology, collaboration, project development and

outcomes in relation to the initial learning agreement. I will also discuss my ideas, artistic inuences and

justify decisions taken as the work evolved into a nal outcome. From this analysis I will draw conclusions

on the success of the nal project in relation to my initial aims and explore future development of thework.

Section 1: Artistic Inuences

The initial aim of the project was to create an immersive and interactive installation that combines audio

and visuals, with the aim of exploring the synergy between sound and image. I researched a range of past

and current practitioners working with interactive and audio/visual mediums, pleasurable visual stylesand/or combining science and art. In this section I will discuss some of the key artists and work that

inuenced the development of the project.

1.1: Ryoichi Kurokawi

Ryoichi Kurokawis work focuses on a variety of multimedia forms with a focus on sound, image and

digitally generated structures. Kurokawi states that his work is an interactive experience. Something

where audio and visual are in complete unison. (Kurokawi 2013). His work is a synesthetic experience that

combines different mediums to create striking installations. A key piece of work that inuenced the initial

project idea was Sirens (2012) (Figure.1). Sirens combines a range of animal images including elks, birds

and horses. These images are combined with a soundtrack to create ghost images (The Creators Project

2014). If the audience moves, the images vanish, they recombine if the audience remain still, to create a

meditative piece of work that combines interactive elements.

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Figure. 1 Sirens, Ryoichi Kurokawi, 2012.

An aspect of the work that inuenced my initial idea was the concept of fragmentation of an image based

on the interaction of the audience. This interactivity engages the audience and enables them to become

part of the work. Kurokawis work isproviding an interactive experience. Something where audio and

visual are in complete unison. (The Creators Project 2014).

1.2: Daito Manabe

Daito Manabes work crosses the boundaries of technology and art. He uses a range of unconventional

canvases. His experiments attempt to meld the human body with technology, looking at how it can be

used in conjunction with ourselves. (Holmes 2010). Eclipse/Blue byNoisaj Thing (2012) (Figure. 2) utilises

movement tracking and projection mapping.In this particular video, Manabe worked with

choreographers to create projection mapped visuals that track the dancers. It made use of a range of

technologies, including 3D depth sensing technology, to track movement, which in turn created live

visuals, which mapped onto the dancers.

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Figure. 2 Eclipse/Blue by Noisaj Thing, Daito Manabe, 2012.

1.3:Aether - Thomas Sanchez and Gilberto Castro

InAether (2014)(Figure. 3) Sanchez and Castro collaborated to explore the link between art and

interactivity. The piece uses deep-space imagery from NASA to explore theintersticesbetweentheparticlesofmatter (Adorno 2014).

Figure. 3Aether, Thomas Sanchez and Gilberto Castro, 2014.

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we want the audience to feel deeply inserted in the piece, where they can transform and affect [the]

particles with their own hands. We believe that interactivity is a tool that opens new doors and enables

new ways of communication between art and technology. (Alonso 2014)

This work explores a similar topic but also combines a range of technologies to create an engaging

artwork that asks to be interacted with, It is all about making the audience part of the artistic

process (Adorno 2014). The work utilises 4 projectors and multitouch technology, alongside visuals that

are generated live using software like C++and Cinder.

1.4: Other inuences

Over the course of the research I explored work by a range of artists, including Quayola and MomentFactory. In a variety of ways these artists have helped inuence and shape the project over the course of

its development. I visited the Digital Revolutionsexhibition, Barbican, London (July 2014). A range of

installations were shown, including Chris Milks The Treachery of Sanctuary (2014) (Figure. 4). This work

utilised Kinect depth-sensor technology to map the audience into an animated silhouette. This

technology became core to my installation and at this stage of the project, it was reassuring to see other

artists utilising the same technology.

Figure. 4 The Treachery of Sanctuary, Chris Milk, 2014.

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Section 2: Theoretical Inuences

"Particle physics and the arts are inextricably linked: both are ways to explore our existence what it is to be

human and our place in the universe." (CERN, 2014)

Another focus was to explore particle physics. I aimed to explore the science in more depth and integrate

it into the work. I drew initial inspiration from a range of resources on the subject, in particular The

Quantum Universe byBrian Cox. This book explains Quantum physics in relation to visual ideas and

attempts to demystify the science. My initial sketchbooks drew on the ideas set out within this book.

I am fascinated by the elemental nature of the universe. Underlying the complexity of the universe is

simplicity. Everything in the universe is created from an assembly of atoms, and that the wide variety of

atoms are constructed using only three particles: electrons, protons and neutrons. We have discovered that theprotons and neutrons are themselves made up of smaller entities called quarks. Underpinning all of this is

quantum theory. (Forshaw, 2012: 8). Around us is an invisible macroscopic world I wanted to explore with

this project.

This is perhaps the crowning achievement of modern science; the reduction of the tremendous

complexity in the world, human beings included, to a description of the behaviour of just a handful of

tiny sub-atomic particles and the four forces that act between them (Forshaw, 2012: 8)

The four forces that interact upon them are; the strong and weak forces that hold the nucleus of an atom

together, electromagnetism that bind atoms to one another, and gravity. The aim of the project was to

attempt to visualise and convey a visual metaphor that explored these building blocks, which would

appeal to a broad audience.

After reading theories by: Rutherford, Heisenberg, Pauli, Planck and Einstein I quickly became bogged

down and confused by the complexity of the science. At this early stage of the project I reached out to

experts in the eld to seek some answers to my questions and try to develop a possible collaboration

with an expert. By doing this I could seek further guidance on the theory and how this could be conveyed

through my work. I sent out emails to specic organisations and universities and was lucky enough to

receive a response from Fermilabs (US Department of Energy) media department. They put me in touch

with a particle physicist, Dr. Don Lincoln. This became a collaboration and had a positive impact on the

project direction.

I discovered other artists working alongside scientists in a similar form of collaboration, for example Kysa

Johnson. Johnsons work explores the patterns created by the decay of sub-atomic particles. These

patterns are combined into detailed illustrations (Figure. 5). This is an innovative approach of integrating

science and art to create beautiful artwork.

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Figure. 5 Sub-atomic decay patterns, Kysa Johnson, 2014.

CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research) study the fundamental structure of the universe.

They use the worlds largest and most complex scientic instrument (the Large Hadron Collider) to study

the basic constituents of matter the fundamental particles that form the universe. Arts@CERN is an

outreach program thatbelieve[s] that particle physics and the arts are inextricably linkedthe two elds are

natural creative partners for innovation in the 21st century. (Koek 2014). The program enables collaborationbetween artists and scientists and may be a potential avenue to pursue with my work in the future.

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Section 3: Collaboration, experimentation and project development

I was extremely lucky to collaborate with Dr. Lincoln. He offered to mentor the project. The aimwas to

integrate real scientic theory and data either as a basis for the project or inspiration.

Dr. Don Lincoln is a senior physicist at Fermilab, Americas agship particle physics laboratory. He

splits his research time between experiments at Fermilab and the CERN laboratory in

Switzerland. (Lincoln, 2014)

Dr. Lincoln answered many of my questions and supported my work throughout the process of design

and creation from a scientic perspective. This collaboration was benecial and helped give the work

direction. It enabled the visual and sonic ideas I developed to be linked to real scientic concepts. The

process took place via email conversations. This collaboration was dealt with professionally and wedeveloped a good working relationship. From an ethical perspective I agreed to ensure no private

communications were published publicly without his consent.

As Dr. Lincoln is based primarily in Chicago so some aspects of the communication were challenging. Dr.

Lincoln put me in touch with his colleague based in London, Dr. Jonathan Hayes, Queen Marys University.

In the later stages of the project I arranged a meeting with Dr. Hayes and discussed a range of concepts

and theories to help clarify my ideas. This added further focus to the work and also sparked the idea for

the sound design; this was to relate different particles to different frequencies. The collaborationbeneted the project in many ways and helped direct both the visual look and soundtrack.

A visual concept (Figure. 6) for the project was developed. After experimenting with different

technologies I concluded that utilising a cheap consumer depth-sensor (Xbox Kinect) attached to a Mac

would allow live granular control of visuals and sound that a traditional camera would not. Unlike a

traditional camera that senses visible light, the Kinect camera sends out a beam of infrared dots that are

reected back to a sensor. A processor inside the camera collates this data to create a map of the space in

3D. It automatically detects human bodies and tracks limb movements. These can be then be mapped tocontrol a range of parameters within software.

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Figure. 6 Sketchbook Extract, Andrew Logie, 2014.

After experimenting with a range of software, I selected Delicode Z-vector for the visuals and Ableton

Live 9 for the sound. Z-vector allows creation of particles in a 3D space and can be programmed to track a

body shape, which can be explored using a virtual 3D camera. A variety of animation controls to be linked

to sound input, allowing a deep link between the two; this can be manipulated to create a unique visual

look.

The soundtrack ofBoundis integral to the work. It acts as both a trigger for the animation and helps to

elaborate on the concept sonically. The soundtrack is generated from the datagenerated by thedecay

ofparticles collected by the ATLASparticle detector. The originalprocess was undertaken by a group

called LHCsound, who received funding from the Science & Technology Facilities Council. This research and

data was released under a Creative Commonslicencethat enables the remix and transformation of the

work on any basis, even commercial (Creative Commons, 2014). Rather than acting as one audio

soundtrack with a start, middle and end, it has been designed to loop continuously. I wanted the sound

and image to ow through various periods of intensity, but also not be repetitive. I envisagea broad

audience experiencing and interacting with the work foranywhere up to 1 min. The sound works well,

and ts with the concept of the work. It adds another layer, which helps convey the message of the piece.

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Conclusion

At the beginning of this unit, an initial agreement was outlined stating the way I would demonstrate and

evidence each learning outcome. Over the course of the unit I explored a broad range of practitioners,

which helped contextualise the work within the current practices of my area of study. I feel the nalproject ts well alongside the work of other practitioners. I had to think practically about other aspects of

the project e.g. reliability and ease of setup and make compromises in the complexity of the design. It

was interesting to see both the length of time and how people interacted with the installations at the

Digital Revolutions exhibition. Many factors were considered when constructing the work.

The project demonstrated a range of experimentation and understanding of different materials and

processes from which I have selected the appropriate tools. This was a process of evaluating and selecting

the correct technology and software to enable the work to be generated. I demonstrated the applicationof the research ndings via an online reective journal. This journal enabled the documentation of the

journey alongside critically evaluating ongoing work. The journal articulated the content and ambitions

of the work to a range of specialist and non-specialist audiences. The online journal has had over 9000

views worldwide to date (Figure. 7). I also delivered a short presentation to my peer group, which

received positive feedback. The online journal has become a platform to promote my work and has

established a professional online presence in conjunction with social media.

Figure. 7 Worldwide views www.andrewlogie.co.uk,Andrew Logie, 2014.

The work was planned around a key timeline therefore it was essential to be organised to balance my

artistic practice with work commitments. I had the opportunity to show Boundat the Fusion screen in

Norwich a week prior to my nal deadline so it was key to be on top of the work to meet this extra

deadline. This pre-exhibition was organised on an individual basis and adhered to all health and safety

regulations. After trialling the installation, soak testing and ensuring the technology worked effectively in

the space, it was opened to the public. This worked well and was an opportunity to get feedback.

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Alongside the nal MA installation of Bound, I hope the piece may have additional life and potential for

further development. I aim to apply for an Arts@CERN residency and have had some interest in applying

the work within a live music venue or working alongside a choreographer for a performance. I have

developed a professional presence online alongside developing a professional network. I feel the overall

project has ended on a very positive note and it has achieved my initial aims for both the project and

overall MA.

Word Count:2492

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Bibliography

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artsy.net: Kysa Johnson Available at: [Accessed 19 March 2014]

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Creative Commons, 2014: Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence Available at: [Accessed 25 July 2014]

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