Archive for the 'Manifesto' Category

GRC Abstract

Published
by
David Wolf
on June 2, 2006
in Manifesto and Research Methods
. 1 Comment

I’m presenting at the next Communications Graduate Research Conference at RMIT on Saturday the 17th. Its a chance to present what I’ve found and made over the course of my MA so far, outline how I will structure my final exegesis and get feedback from a panel of supervisors/experts in the field.

Here’s what I’ll be speaking about:

This project explores the use of real time interactivity and network awareness in screen based new media works through the production of new experimental works (Vidgets).

A common strategy used by various new media theorists is to compare new and emerging media forms with their precursors and predecessors. With this project, rather than focusing on the aesthetic and formal similarities and differences between ‘old’ and ‘new’ media in search of causality or correlation, I am examining similarities and differences in terms of the processes involved in the production and use media art works.

I am looking at ways in which aspects of real time interactivity and network awareness can be found in a range of ‘old media’ production processes, and how these may be used to inform the development of new works.

Using this approach I have found that my own real time interactive / network aware video works may share more in terms of process with sound and conceptual art than those of traditional and even experimental film making.

I plan to talk about the two main conceptual/practical shifts which have occurred over the course of my project.

  1. Moving from a ‘cinema + interactivity’ starting point to an approach that sees moving images and sound as one of many possible outcomes of real time interactive, network aware processes. I found that unlike those involved in cinema, the processes used in the production of sound art and noise music were often focussed on real time interactivity through the playing of instruments and noise machines, the use of chance, and an increased awareness of the environment and the work’s relationship to it.
  2. Moving from an ‘object’ based description and understanding of new media works to a more distributed ’systems’ approach.

More on this soon.

Digital noise as metadata, erroneous links, background communications

Published
by
David Wolf
on June 15, 2004
in Manifesto
. 0 Comments

“Every manifestation of our life is accompanied by noise. The noise, therefore, is familiar to our ear, and has the power to conjure up life itself.” (Russolo, 1986, 1913)

Today almost every manifestation of our life is accompanied by some form of digital communication. Surveillance and security systems track our physical movements, electronic funds transfers, telephone, email, SMS, web surfing, and wireless networking are the digital noise of daily life.

This noise is either ‘tuned out’ or not considered at all as we go about our business and focus on the ‘content’ of the mediation or the ‘outcome’ of the transaction. In the construction and presentation of digital media, however, the line between content and background operations, structure and processes is often completely dissolved.

To both analyse and construct digital works we must appreciate the ways in which these ‘background noises’ function.

The genre of ‘alternate reality’ or ‘mixed reality’ gaming has powerfully shown us how our everyday digital signals may be tracked, manipulated and synthesised by new media works to conjure up alternate, ‘artificial’ life - unfiction.

“Although it is characteristic of noise to recall us brutally to real life, the art of noise must not limit itself to imitative reproduction. It will achieve its most emotive power in the acoustic enjoyment, in its own right, that the artist’s inspiration will extract from combined noises.” (Russolo, 1986, 1913)

While the creation or recreation of a large scale alternate reality is not the aim of my work, I believe that this genre gives us a great example of what is possible when the complete spectrum of ‘digital noises’ is embraced and its various manifestations combined. Artists such as Jonah Brucker-Cohen show us how digital ‘background noise’ such as network traffic and everyday mouse movements may be appropriated to create interesting new works.

Russolo, L. (1986, 1913). The Art of Noises: Futurist Manifesto. The Art of Noises: Monographs In Musicology No. 6. New York, Pendragon Press.

Links:

Luigi Russolo: The Art of Noises

Russolo, L. (1986). The Art of Noises: Futurist Manifesto. The Art of Noises: Monographs In Musicology No. 6. New York, Pendragon Press.

unfiction.com

cloudmakers.org

Jonah Brucker-Cohen: coin-operated.com

Digital noise machines, cybertextual instruments to be played in real time

Published
by
David Wolf
on June 15, 2004
in Manifesto
. 0 Comments

“…Musical evolution is paralleled by the multipication of machines, which collaborate with man on every front” … “We want to attune and regulate this tremendous variety of noises harmonically and rhythmically.” (Russolo, 1986, 1913)

Just as the futurists constructed noise machines with controls for pitch and rhythm which may be manipulated as they are played, we must create audio-visual machines which are equally responsive. One of the most important aspects of the manipulation and generation of digital audio-visual noise is that it can occur in real time. No more click and wait. The movements of a mouse can pan a virtual camera in a 3d space. The strokes of a keyboard can trigger noises. The presence of another user viewing the same movie as you can have and effect on its outcome. Two separate Quicktime movies hosted on different servers on different sides of the world can communicate with each other on the desktop of a user. While many different media types may be manipulated in real time today, due to a number of different factors the audio/music realm has lead the way in this regard. Technologies such as MIDI allow for the real time control of a multitude of audio (and now video and computer) devices. Digital samplers, synthesisers and signal processors must, by their very nature function in real time. We must strive to create audio-visual ‘machines’ which match this level of responsiveness and expressiveness. Where Russolo built physical machines, we may also build software machines, or, as Aarseth would dub them, “Cybertexts”.

“A cybertext is a machine for the production of variety of expression” … “when you read from a cybertext you are constantly reminded of inaccessible strategies and paths not taken, voices not heard.” (1997: 3).

A cybertext could be described as a kind of textual instrument, whose function is inseparable from its form. As Aarseth writes, the concept “focuses on the mechanical organisation of the text, by positing the intricacies of the medium as an integral part of the literary exchange” (Aarseth, 1997: 1). Digital noise machines which form part of a larger network of computers and signals must be designed as cybertexts which take advantage of their location.

Aarseth, E. J. (1997). Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Luigi Russolo: The Art of Noises

Russolo, L. (1986). The Art of Noises: Futurist Manifesto. The Art of Noises: Monographs In Musicology No. 6. New York, Pendragon Press.

Digital noise as artefact, glitch

Published
by
David Wolf
on June 15, 2004
in Manifesto
. 0 Comments

“At first the art of music sought purity, limpidity and sweetness of sound. Then different sounds were amalgamated, care being taken, however, to caress the ear with gentle harmonies. Today music, as it becomes continually more complicated, strives to amalgamate the most dissonant, strange and harsh sounds. In this way we come ever closer to noise-sound.” (Russolo, 1986, 1913)

Digital audio, video and photography began as grainy, low resolution, glitchy re-mediations of their analogue predecessors. As the technologies were developed and advanced they began to approach, and then surpass the detail and quality of their analogue cousins. Sound cards can now record multiple channels at 192khz 24bit, video cameras can shoot in HD and digital still cameras can capture 11 megapixel images. Depending on their content, these media may ‘caress’ the eyes and ears with the ultimate in ‘pure’ sounds and images.

“We Futurists have deeply loved and enjoyed the harmonies of the great masters. For many years Beethoven and Wagner shook our nerves and hearts. Now we are satiated and we find far more enjoyment in the combination of the noises of trams, backfiring motors, carriages and bawling crowds than in rehearsing, for example, the “Eroica” or the “Pastoral”. ” (Russolo, 1986, 1913)

While the kind of technology required to produce hyper-real, ‘Industral Light and Magic’ style visual effects, and ‘Skywalker Ranch’ sound is increasing in accessibility and popularity, at the same time, artists are increasingly exploring the aesthetics of the artefact, the glitches and noises produced as a by product of data compression, signal downsampling, bit reduction and error. This ‘digital lo-fi’ aesthetic can be found in the sound art, video art and digital photography.

Just as Russolo preferred the sounds of everyday life, it could be argued that low-fi, glitchy, digital samples represent and reference our daily digital lives. The sounds of digital mobile phones dropping out, CDs skipping, computers crashing, digital television losing reception, images from camera phones and webcams serve as inspiration for the glitch aesthetic.

Tony Scott : beflix.com - glitch on paper

Iman Moradi : Glitch Aesthetics

Glitch (music) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Luigi Russolo: The Art of Noises

Russolo, L. (1986). The Art of Noises: Futurist Manifesto. The Art of Noises: Monographs In Musicology No. 6. New York, Pendragon Press.

The 8 Families of Digital Noise

Published
by
David Wolf
on June 15, 2004
in Manifesto
. 0 Comments

Russolo’s 6 Families of Noises:

1 Rumbles, Roars, Explosions, Crashes, Splashes, Booms

2 Whistles, Hisses, Snorts

3 Whispers, Murmurs, Mumbles, Grumbles, Gurgles,

4 Screeches, Creaks, Rumbles, Buzzes, Crackles, Scrapes

5 Noises obtained by percussion on metal, wood, skin, stone, tarracotta, etc.

6 Voices of animals and men: Shouts, Screams, Groans, Shrieks, Howls, Laughs, Weezes, Sobs

My 8 Families of Digital Noise:

Still Images (bitmap):
GIF, JPEG, TIFF, PNG…

Still Images (vector):
EPS, Flash, Illustrator

Moving Images (bitmap):
Quicktime (various codecs), Windows Media Video, Real Video,

Moving Images (vector):
Flash

Sounds (wave):
MP3, AIFF, WAV, AAC, WMA, Real Audio,

Sounds (generative, programmatic and/or procedural):
General MIDI, Pure Data, Soft synths, VST effects…

Control Data (time based or date stamped):
MIDI, keyboard text input, mouse input, audio analysis, video motion detection and tracking, network traffic, activity and hits, bandwidth, SMS, email, instant messaging,

Control Data (relatively static):
Meta-data, databases, xml, text, scripting, programming,

Manifesto: The art of digital noises (a draft)

Published
by
David Wolf
on June 1, 2004
in Manifesto, Note to self, The role of the producer and The role of the user
. Closed

A mash-up of Deleuze, Guattari, Russolo, Manovich, Aarseth and Miles.

We must embrace both signal and noise in all its forms.

Luigi Russolo and the Futurists embraced the complete spectrum of noises and sounds and incorporated them into the art of noise, arguing that:
“[The] evolution of music is comparable to the multiplication of machines” … “Musical sound is too limited in its variety of timbres” and that “We must break out of this limited circle of sounds and conquer the infinite variety of noise-sounds.” Digital technology allows the sampling, manipulation, generation and reproduction of not only the complete spectrum of sounds and noises but also the complete range of photographic, cinematic, videographic, literary and typographic content. The digital domain brings with it a unique new spectrum of digital distortions and noises to be explored. Artefacts may be generated through the use and misuse of compression algorithms, file corruption and manipulation.

We must explore the use of inter-textual and inter-network digital communications.

As well as these readily tangible sources and distortions, the digital domain opens up new opportunities for the incorporation of digital signals and noises which may be sent from machine to machine, text to text. Russolo argues that “Every manifestation of life is accompanied by noise” and that “Noise is thus familiar to our ear and has the power of immediately recalling life itself.” Similarly, today almost every action we take is accompanied by a digital transaction. As life becomes increasingly mediated by digital technologies, the manipulation and subversion of these media allow for new forms, genres and narratives. As Russolo writes, “Although the characteristic of noise is that of reminding us brutally of life, the Art of Noises should not limit itself to an imitative reproduction. It will achieve its greatest emotional power in acoustical enjoyment itself, which the inspiration of the artist will know how to draw from the combining of noises.” While emergent genres such as mixed reality and alternate reality gaming use ‘fictional’ websites, email and SMS messages to great effect, reproducing and ‘reminding us of’ the digital signals of everyday life, it could be argued that these techniques are most effective when combined. HTTP, FTP, RTSP, email, SMS, WiFi, Bluetooth, scripting and streaming technologies may all be appropriated and incorporated.

We must take advantage of the possibilities of digital manipulation in real time

Just as the futurists constructed noise machines with controls for pitch and rhythm which may be manipulated as they are played, we must create audio-visual machines which are equally responsive. One of the most important aspects of the manipulation and generation of digital audio-visual noise is that it can occur in real time. No more click and wait. The movements of a mouse can pan a virtual camera in a 3d space. The strokes of a keyboard can trigger noises. The presence of another user viewing the same movie as you can have and effect on its outcome. Two separate Quicktime movies hosted on different servers on different sides of the world can communicate with each other on the desktop of a user. While many different media types may be manipulated in real time today, due to a number of different factors the audio/music realm has lead the way in this regard. Technologies such as MIDI allow for the real time control of a multitude of audio (and now video and computer) devices. Digital samplers, synthesisers and signal processors must, by their very nature function in real time. We must strive to create audio-visual ‘machines’ which match this level of responsiveness and expressiveness.

We must explore the new forms of authorship facilitated by digital technology

Deleuze and Guattari contend that “A book has neither object nor subject; it is made of variously formed matters, and very different dates and speeds. To attribute the book to a subject is to overlook this working of matters, and the exteriority of their relations.” When we are dealing with digital media the assemblage of ideas, sources and external links takes on a literal and physical as well as conceptual meaning. A work may be constructed wholly out of the combination or manipulation of previously existing samples or signals. Again, to link back to sound art, the work may be the construction of the instrument, its scoring / programming, its performance or any combination of the three. Lev Manovich proposes a useful list of authorship models to be explored:

“Collaboration of different individuals and / or groups (over the network or in person, in real time or not);
Interactivity as collaboration between the author and the user
Authorship as selection from a menu
Collaboration between a company and the users
Collaboration between the author and the software
Remixing
Sampling
The Open Source Model”