This is a participatory installation piece in which users can draw a continuously growing landscape. The landscape is both geometric and organic–geometric in its use of simple shape primitive and organic in its resemblance of sensed user motion. Aesthetically we intend the tradeoff between these two properties to inform the work\’s style.

Sound manifests the sensorial field in a manner that the scopic field struggles to achieve
in certain ways. Due the omnidirectional nature of sound, (particularly in the lower fre-
quencies) an immersive experience can be created in the sensorium of the subject. In a
sense, sound can be used as an indexical device which imprints itself upon the listener. This
phenomenon is the thrust of much of my recent work. I have been concerned with the to-
pology created in the air by the accumulation of dense layers of slightly out of phase, low
frequency sine waves. I see a relationship between the deliberate use of simple materials in
my sonic work and the use of primary colors in monochrome painting styles. What differs
from the simplicity of the material, however, is the complexity of the composites created by
the accumulation of the number of waves. The slight phase shifts that occur create what is
known as ‘binaural beating patterns’. The beats themselves can be seen as ‘nodes’, from
which structure can emerge.

Through the use of oscilloscopes and other devices, these waves can be seen as a kind of abstract visual music as shown in the work of artists like Jordan Belson, and John Whitney among others. Through the use of more advanced computer software such as max/msp/jitter, visualization of the topology of sonic phenomena can advance into new directions, moving past the oscilloscope’s display constraints of cartesian coordinates, and into much more advanced geometry. Current discourse in the field of architecture is heavily concerned with these issues as Computer Assisted Design (CAD) software such as Maya enables a radical re-visioning of received notions of form. My intention is to use sound as a form finding technique which will
be represented in 2 dimensional space in the form of video projections as well as a series of
large format prints, in 3 dimensional virtual space, and ultimately in 3 dimensional physical
space. Through the use of CNC milling and printing machines, this technique has made it
possible to execute and physicalize these advanced geometries. The topology of the air
which is imprinted by the index of sound will be represented and left as a physical trace in
the surface topology of the chosen materials, (which will show a heavy emphasis towards reflective materials). Kinetic 2 dimensional forms created through the process will be projected against the physical assemblage, creating a hybrid form of sculpture, cinema and sound.

The Life Tower is a 3D visualization of Conway\’s Game of Life.

Conway\’s Game of Life consists of a grid of cells that are assigned one of two states: alive or dead. The state of a cell in the current generation is determined by the state of the surrounding cells in the previous generation: Normally, this simulation takes place in two dimensions only. The Life Tower draws each successive state of the simulation below the previous state, creating a three-dimensional form that reflects the history of the simulation.

The large format prints generated from this program reveal in detail the intricate forms generated over time by two-dimensional cellular automata.

As we habitually move along the paths of our daily commute, we inscribe marks on the city that we inhabit. As groups of commuters, strolling down Broadway St. in Manhattan, we create a language of movement.

This series of computer-generated images proposes possible communications made from our daily motions. If we could see those texts, what would they look like? Abstract semi-random formalist markings of modern painter like Jackson Pollock? Perhaps they create more geometrical forms. Illegible murmurings caused by a mixture of repeated and confused movements (i.e. getting lost)? Chanting of slogans that we encounter everyday on our subway advertisements and city billboards? The humming of this week’s #1 hit on the radio? Or well-articulated thoughts of a semi-conscious revolution?

Walking the City utilizes hundreds of pictures of pedestrians moving through the city forming crowds whose whole structure forms phrases and signs. These communications are then published as high-resolution digital prints. The stock photographs of pedestrians are typically used in architectural renderings to illustrate what a proposed space will look like once inhabited. In this case, these individual stock photographs are used as pixels or markings, a smaller part of a larger picture.

Form and shape is only part of our everyday experience. What happens over an extended period of time is often just as important as the static object itself. In this piece we take the motion of the human body and collide it with the shape of the body. The result is a new shape that also considers the dynamics of the person.

The base concept of the interaction is that of an accumulative landscape. Motion creates artifacts which slowly blend into the landscape of previous motion artefacts. The landscape builds up as people play with the piece. The shape of artifacts is closely related to motion trails of different body parts. How exactly these mappings are done is up to the different participants in the project.

A typical user scenario starts in a square that is surrounded by four to six motion capture cameras. The user is equipped with markers which are triangulated by the system. The resulting location data is used for real-time graphics generation. A projection screen on one side of the square displays the visual output.