Songul Aslanturk
In Praise of Practically Nothing
A kinetic sculpture that is built by collective
data in response to the musical composition “In Praise of Practically Nothing” by Brian Israel.
http://www.songulaslanturk.com/thesis/paper/Songul_Thesis_Paper.pdf
“In Praise of Practically Nothing” is a kinetic sculpture that is built by collective
data in response to the musical composition “In Praise of Practically Nothing” by Brian Israel. It
represents physical and emotional reactions of 8 people to this composition and my
interpretation and artistic approach in turning it into a sculpture to represent dynamic of
his music visually.
I am using one of his compositions because his unusual musical style fascinates
me. It is full of surprises, and unexpected emotional states that takes me to the extreme
level of excitement, then drags me to the edge and lets me down to an endless space
but then grabs and puts me back on my feet. I flow with his rhythm but at the same time
it is my rhythm because I dissolve and become part of the rhythm. It is how I observe his
musicality and why I basically paint music. I enjoy not knowing where I will end up and
what I will do next. It is a journey that I start without certain destinations and expected
experiences. I start without any thoughts and react to it intuitively. This project is an
exploration, an adventure that I will experience along few other people. I am interested in
other people’s reaction to the same composition because there are few questions that I
want to explore such as similarities or differences in responses to the same composition,
relationship between dynamic of the composition and the reaction of listeners, feelings
that are evoked by this experience, definitions in different ways such as visual, audible,
or touchable, and a collaborative sculpture that represents different peoples’ responses
to the same medium. In order to answer some of these questions I will dive into some of
the areas such as emotions, relationship between emotions and music, synesthetisia,
visual and auditory activation in brain, relationship between physical response and
dynamic of music, and algorithmic music.
One challenge I have is to collect data from people with different backgrounds
by using Galvanic Skin Response Sensor (GSR), also known as electrodermal response
(EDR), psychogalvanic reflex (PGR), or skin conductance response (SCR), which is a
method of measuring the electrical resistance of the skin. There is a relationship
between sympathetic activity and emotional arousal, although one cannot identify the
specific emotion being elicited. What GSR basically does is that it measures
physiological changes in human body such as blood pressure, breathing, heart rate,
sweat etc. and prints out data in numbers. These physiological changes define physical
reactions linked to changes in emotional states. I could have used Functional Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (fMRI) technique to capture brain activation while it is in thought
process or Electroencephalography (EEG) to measure electrical activity of the brain by
recording from electrodes placed on the scalp or Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
which is an imaging technique used to measure the magnetic fields produced by
electrical activity in the brain via extremely sensitive devices such as SQUIDs but not
being able to have access to these devices finalized my decision to use GSR.
My goal with using GSR is collecting data from different people maximum 8 to
build a kinetic sculpture that evokes dynamic movements of musical experience of
different personalities. It is like watching a visual representation of the same composition
created by different people in one sculpture. My method is experimental using scientific
approach.
I am fan of synesthetic artist Vasilly Kandinsky, non-synesthetic modern artist
Mondrian, and Malevitch. I love listening to Alexander Scriabin’s music who was also a
synesthetic composer and developed a system of musical colored keys. I often listen to
Pavarotti and paint his music. He has such strong voice and passion that makes me
paint it. I enjoy listening to Japanese composer Kitaro who composes to express his
emotions through his music by using a sound synthesizer. I can float and travel into
dream land with his music. I am fascinated by Brian Israel’s compositions. He has an
unusual style and his music is full of unexpected movements. I want to follow the lead of
his music because it is an adventure that is full of surprises. Some scientific experiments
are also my inspiration such as Newton’s Color Theory and Mapping Senses. An
American pianist and composer Amy Beach also associates certain colors with certain
keys to compose her music. Stephen Malinowski, Lisa Turetsky, Jameson, Kastner,
Bainbridge Bishop, and Rimington are other inspirational artists. I also like “Absence” by
Sean Day very much and painted that piece of melody. Some other projects that I find
interesting and inspiring are;
”Musical Graphics\" - methods of painting and drawing music (generally
resulting in abstract visual compositions). These methods were first used for educational
and psychological purposes by 0. Rainer, an Austrian, who published the results of his
experiments in his book \"Musikalische Graphik\". In 1926 he established the Musical
Graphics Society and published the journal \"Archiv der Musikalische Graphik\" in Vienna.
After he died in 1941, his work was continued by G. Zunderman and B.Ernst. In 1962,
musical graphics was introduced into the curriculum of the Vienna Academy of Music
and Fine Art, out of which developed the Musical Graphics Institute, where a special
museum dedicated to the best works was established. The experience of the institute
proves the effectiveness of drawing music in pedagogical and psychological research
involving audio-visual associations (or concomitant audio and visual perceptions-a form
of synesthesia). The music drawing itself was done by experimental and control groups
of pupils. In the control group, traditional music classes, without drawing, were held. In
the experimental group, the same musical works were studied but with the application of
the method of musical graphics. The children had a preliminary acquaintance with the
general aspects of music such as melody, harmony, tempo, etc. and aspects of painting
such as drawing, coloring, composition, etc. The children were asked to listen intently to
a piece of music, then they participated actively in an analysis of its structure and
content. Only after that did the children begin to
draw. http://prometheus.kai.ru/sines_e.htm
I am very impressed with uniqueness of Infernoptic project. It is a 6\" fireball for
each of those demure little pixels, and the image jumps from the screen in licks and
bursts of flame. That\'s the idea behind the latest creation from NAO, the Infernoptix
Digital Pyrotechnic Matrix. Matrix because the screen is comprised of a grid 12 pixels
wide by 7 pixels high, and Digital because to operate all 84 pixels in such elaborate
ways requires a bit of digital processing. That processing starts with custom software,
developed exclusively for the Infernoptix, and running on PC or Mac. Five separate
modes allow a variety of effects from the screen, as well as the ability to perform the onthe-
fly tuning that is necessary with complex pyrotechnics.
The Music Animation Machine \"An elegantly clever way to visualize complex
music\" - Kevin Kelly, Whole Earth Review Stephen Malinowski and his wife Lisa
Turetsky have created a page demoing Malinowski\'s Music Animation Machine, which
represents works of music in color as a sequence of moving bars and blocks
accompanying the score. In some ways this is analogous to colored hearing
synesthesia. http://www.well.com/user/smalin/mam.html
Synthetic Synesthesia: Mixing Sound With Color An interface is described
that uses color and spatial relations to provide an intuitive interface for sound
manipulation. A simple geometric shape, called the Geometric Sound Mixer (GSM), is
used to mix sounds. Timbre is represented as color within the GSM; the relative
loudness of these sound sources is represented visually by the color mixture.
http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/cachedpage/392436/2
A program for representing sounds visually This is a program for
representing music graphically, as a curuscating field of fog, stars and/or glowing lines. It
is intended as a visual accompaniment to music. The representation goes beyond
conventional freqency analysis displays by combining a fourier analysis with stereo
positioning information, making it possible to distinguish individual intruments, vocalists
or effects by location, shape and color. Sound inputs can be obtained from a CD, line
input, the ESD sound daemon or via piped-in PCM
data. http://pdo.debian.net/testing/sound/synaesthesia
Synesthesia - synesthesia\'s Interactive Dance Club is an unprecedented multiparticipant
environment in a dance club setting featuring interactive music, lighting and
live computer-generated imagery. http://synesthesia.com/site/mainframe.html
\"PIANO KEYBOARD/LAKE\" , by Frantisek Kupka, 1909. - In one of the very
rare examples of major painting directly based on a colour-music code, the Czech artist
Frantisek Kupka payed homage to Helmholtz in \"Piano Keyboard/Lake\". At the bottom of
the canvas, a hand is shown playing the A major chord that is basic to Helmholtz\'s
scheme, while the colours themselves are almost exclusively tonal varieties of the
Young-Helmholtz primaries, red, green and blue-violet.
http://www.sensequence.de/proj/projen.html#dreamcolor
Algorithmic Composition for Acoustic Instruments
Bruce Jacob developed an algorithmic composition system that produces scores
for acoustic instruments.He is more interested in hearing it performed by live performers
than realized upon synthesizers and samplers. He is also more interested in traditional
instrumental music than the \"beep snort growl\" music heard in many computer music
concerts and publications today. He is a purist. I will use his music for my experiments.
http://www.ee.umd.edu/~blj/algorithmic_composition/
I also love this painting of “Dark Flame” – one of Scriabin’s composition- by a 17
year old school boy.
http://www.itp.nyu.edu/~sa1222/ColorofSound/artandchromaetesia.html (Painting
is at the end of the page)
My project is not screen based. It does not have audio built into it. It is not similar
to any of the projects mentioned above but inspired by them. It is a kinetic sculpture that
is built by collective data in response to the composition “In Praise of Practically Nothing”
by Brian Israel. It represents physical and emotional reactions of 8 people to this
composition and my interpretation and artistic approach in turning it into a sculpture to
represent dynamic of his music visually.
There have been many artists, scientists and experimentalists who worked on
similar concept with different approach. What I am trying to do is to clearly show the
connection between sound, shape and color. My method is experimental using scientific
approach.
My audience is everyone. It is an art installation to carry out importance of music
and harmony in art and human behavior. We learn to respond to music even before we
are born. Music is the strongest medium to create different emotional states and bring
out creative and harmonious part of our spirit. It is rhythm of my spirit and as a painter I
bring out this passionate experience by painting.
My sculpture is not going to produce sound but is going to create visual harmony.
It is Brian Israel’s composition visually. I want my audience to respond to the sculpture in
their own unique ways. The journey and the memory they will experience are up to their
imagination and past experiences.
“In Praise of Practically Nothing” is a kinetic sculpture that is built by collective
data in response to the musical composition “In Praise of Practically Nothing” by Brian Israel. It
represents physical and emotional reactions of 8 people to this composition and my
interpretation and artistic approach in turning it into a sculpture to represent dynamic of
his music visually.
My development process follows below guidelines,
I. Music Selection
II. Galvanic Skin Response test on people
III. Painting the music
IV. Creating the visual look based on GSR results and my artistic approach
V. Coding, and arduino, stepper motor set up
VI. Building 10 seconds of the composition in a sculpture form
Sculpture is formed by 10 stepper motors with IR sensors. Each stepper motor represents a second of the musical composition and spins based on GSR values of subjects who listened to the music when attached to GSR. There are transparent shapes and circles on top of each stepper motor. When user approaches each stepper responds independently and each behavior creates different pattern and dynamic to emphasize the difference in response to same medium.
data in response to the musical composition “In Praise of Practically Nothing” by Brian Israel. It
represents physical and emotional reactions of 8 people to this composition and my
interpretation and artistic approach in turning it into a sculpture to represent dynamic of
his music visually.
I am using one of his compositions because his unusual musical style fascinates
me. It is full of surprises, and unexpected emotional states that takes me to the extreme
level of excitement, then drags me to the edge and lets me down to an endless space
but then grabs and puts me back on my feet. I flow with his rhythm but at the same time
it is my rhythm because I dissolve and become part of the rhythm. It is how I observe his
musicality and why I basically paint music. I enjoy not knowing where I will end up and
what I will do next. It is a journey that I start without certain destinations and expected
experiences. I start without any thoughts and react to it intuitively. This project is an
exploration, an adventure that I will experience along few other people. I am interested in
other people’s reaction to the same composition because there are few questions that I
want to explore such as similarities or differences in responses to the same composition,
relationship between dynamic of the composition and the reaction of listeners, feelings
that are evoked by this experience, definitions in different ways such as visual, audible,
or touchable, and a collaborative sculpture that represents different peoples’ responses
to the same medium. In order to answer some of these questions I will dive into some of
the areas such as emotions, relationship between emotions and music, synesthetisia,
visual and auditory activation in brain, relationship between physical response and
dynamic of music, and algorithmic music.
One challenge I have is to collect data from people with different backgrounds
by using Galvanic Skin Response Sensor (GSR), also known as electrodermal response
(EDR), psychogalvanic reflex (PGR), or skin conductance response (SCR), which is a
method of measuring the electrical resistance of the skin. There is a relationship
between sympathetic activity and emotional arousal, although one cannot identify the
specific emotion being elicited. What GSR basically does is that it measures
physiological changes in human body such as blood pressure, breathing, heart rate,
sweat etc. and prints out data in numbers. These physiological changes define physical
reactions linked to changes in emotional states. I could have used Functional Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (fMRI) technique to capture brain activation while it is in thought
process or Electroencephalography (EEG) to measure electrical activity of the brain by
recording from electrodes placed on the scalp or Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
which is an imaging technique used to measure the magnetic fields produced by
electrical activity in the brain via extremely sensitive devices such as SQUIDs but not
being able to have access to these devices finalized my decision to use GSR.
My goal with using GSR is collecting data from different people maximum 8 to
build a kinetic sculpture that evokes dynamic movements of musical experience of
different personalities. It is like watching a visual representation of the same composition
created by different people in one sculpture. My method is experimental using scientific
approach.
I am fan of synesthetic artist Vasilly Kandinsky, non-synesthetic modern artist
Mondrian, and Malevitch. I love listening to Alexander Scriabin’s music who was also a
synesthetic composer and developed a system of musical colored keys. I often listen to
Pavarotti and paint his music. He has such strong voice and passion that makes me
paint it. I enjoy listening to Japanese composer Kitaro who composes to express his
emotions through his music by using a sound synthesizer. I can float and travel into
dream land with his music. I am fascinated by Brian Israel’s compositions. He has an
unusual style and his music is full of unexpected movements. I want to follow the lead of
his music because it is an adventure that is full of surprises. Some scientific experiments
are also my inspiration such as Newton’s Color Theory and Mapping Senses. An
American pianist and composer Amy Beach also associates certain colors with certain
keys to compose her music. Stephen Malinowski, Lisa Turetsky, Jameson, Kastner,
Bainbridge Bishop, and Rimington are other inspirational artists. I also like “Absence” by
Sean Day very much and painted that piece of melody. Some other projects that I find
interesting and inspiring are;
”Musical Graphics\" - methods of painting and drawing music (generally
resulting in abstract visual compositions). These methods were first used for educational
and psychological purposes by 0. Rainer, an Austrian, who published the results of his
experiments in his book \"Musikalische Graphik\". In 1926 he established the Musical
Graphics Society and published the journal \"Archiv der Musikalische Graphik\" in Vienna.
After he died in 1941, his work was continued by G. Zunderman and B.Ernst. In 1962,
musical graphics was introduced into the curriculum of the Vienna Academy of Music
and Fine Art, out of which developed the Musical Graphics Institute, where a special
museum dedicated to the best works was established. The experience of the institute
proves the effectiveness of drawing music in pedagogical and psychological research
involving audio-visual associations (or concomitant audio and visual perceptions-a form
of synesthesia). The music drawing itself was done by experimental and control groups
of pupils. In the control group, traditional music classes, without drawing, were held. In
the experimental group, the same musical works were studied but with the application of
the method of musical graphics. The children had a preliminary acquaintance with the
general aspects of music such as melody, harmony, tempo, etc. and aspects of painting
such as drawing, coloring, composition, etc. The children were asked to listen intently to
a piece of music, then they participated actively in an analysis of its structure and
content. Only after that did the children begin to
draw. http://prometheus.kai.ru/sines_e.htm
I am very impressed with uniqueness of Infernoptic project. It is a 6\" fireball for
each of those demure little pixels, and the image jumps from the screen in licks and
bursts of flame. That\'s the idea behind the latest creation from NAO, the Infernoptix
Digital Pyrotechnic Matrix. Matrix because the screen is comprised of a grid 12 pixels
wide by 7 pixels high, and Digital because to operate all 84 pixels in such elaborate
ways requires a bit of digital processing. That processing starts with custom software,
developed exclusively for the Infernoptix, and running on PC or Mac. Five separate
modes allow a variety of effects from the screen, as well as the ability to perform the onthe-
fly tuning that is necessary with complex pyrotechnics.
The Music Animation Machine \"An elegantly clever way to visualize complex
music\" - Kevin Kelly, Whole Earth Review Stephen Malinowski and his wife Lisa
Turetsky have created a page demoing Malinowski\'s Music Animation Machine, which
represents works of music in color as a sequence of moving bars and blocks
accompanying the score. In some ways this is analogous to colored hearing
synesthesia. http://www.well.com/user/smalin/mam.html
Synthetic Synesthesia: Mixing Sound With Color An interface is described
that uses color and spatial relations to provide an intuitive interface for sound
manipulation. A simple geometric shape, called the Geometric Sound Mixer (GSM), is
used to mix sounds. Timbre is represented as color within the GSM; the relative
loudness of these sound sources is represented visually by the color mixture.
http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/cachedpage/392436/2
A program for representing sounds visually This is a program for
representing music graphically, as a curuscating field of fog, stars and/or glowing lines. It
is intended as a visual accompaniment to music. The representation goes beyond
conventional freqency analysis displays by combining a fourier analysis with stereo
positioning information, making it possible to distinguish individual intruments, vocalists
or effects by location, shape and color. Sound inputs can be obtained from a CD, line
input, the ESD sound daemon or via piped-in PCM
data. http://pdo.debian.net/testing/sound/synaesthesia
Synesthesia - synesthesia\'s Interactive Dance Club is an unprecedented multiparticipant
environment in a dance club setting featuring interactive music, lighting and
live computer-generated imagery. http://synesthesia.com/site/mainframe.html
\"PIANO KEYBOARD/LAKE\" , by Frantisek Kupka, 1909. - In one of the very
rare examples of major painting directly based on a colour-music code, the Czech artist
Frantisek Kupka payed homage to Helmholtz in \"Piano Keyboard/Lake\". At the bottom of
the canvas, a hand is shown playing the A major chord that is basic to Helmholtz\'s
scheme, while the colours themselves are almost exclusively tonal varieties of the
Young-Helmholtz primaries, red, green and blue-violet.
http://www.sensequence.de/proj/projen.html#dreamcolor
Algorithmic Composition for Acoustic Instruments
Bruce Jacob developed an algorithmic composition system that produces scores
for acoustic instruments.He is more interested in hearing it performed by live performers
than realized upon synthesizers and samplers. He is also more interested in traditional
instrumental music than the \"beep snort growl\" music heard in many computer music
concerts and publications today. He is a purist. I will use his music for my experiments.
http://www.ee.umd.edu/~blj/algorithmic_composition/
I also love this painting of “Dark Flame” – one of Scriabin’s composition- by a 17
year old school boy.
http://www.itp.nyu.edu/~sa1222/ColorofSound/artandchromaetesia.html (Painting
is at the end of the page)
My project is not screen based. It does not have audio built into it. It is not similar
to any of the projects mentioned above but inspired by them. It is a kinetic sculpture that
is built by collective data in response to the composition “In Praise of Practically Nothing”
by Brian Israel. It represents physical and emotional reactions of 8 people to this
composition and my interpretation and artistic approach in turning it into a sculpture to
represent dynamic of his music visually.
There have been many artists, scientists and experimentalists who worked on
similar concept with different approach. What I am trying to do is to clearly show the
connection between sound, shape and color. My method is experimental using scientific
approach.
My audience is everyone. It is an art installation to carry out importance of music
and harmony in art and human behavior. We learn to respond to music even before we
are born. Music is the strongest medium to create different emotional states and bring
out creative and harmonious part of our spirit. It is rhythm of my spirit and as a painter I
bring out this passionate experience by painting.
My sculpture is not going to produce sound but is going to create visual harmony.
It is Brian Israel’s composition visually. I want my audience to respond to the sculpture in
their own unique ways. The journey and the memory they will experience are up to their
imagination and past experiences.
“In Praise of Practically Nothing” is a kinetic sculpture that is built by collective
data in response to the musical composition “In Praise of Practically Nothing” by Brian Israel. It
represents physical and emotional reactions of 8 people to this composition and my
interpretation and artistic approach in turning it into a sculpture to represent dynamic of
his music visually.
My development process follows below guidelines,
I. Music Selection
II. Galvanic Skin Response test on people
III. Painting the music
IV. Creating the visual look based on GSR results and my artistic approach
V. Coding, and arduino, stepper motor set up
VI. Building 10 seconds of the composition in a sculpture form
Sculpture is formed by 10 stepper motors with IR sensors. Each stepper motor represents a second of the musical composition and spins based on GSR values of subjects who listened to the music when attached to GSR. There are transparent shapes and circles on top of each stepper motor. When user approaches each stepper responds independently and each behavior creates different pattern and dynamic to emphasize the difference in response to same medium.