CMU School of Drama


Friday, September 30, 2011

Visualizing Sound

Visualising Sound: Volume from Megan James on Vimeo.


stvo33.com: A collaboration with Megan James, this project was created purely to create interaction and engagement from the audience. The initial focus when you walk into the exhibition space would be the large grid of speakers however we are not trying to make 'sound' the focus of the exhibition. We are presenting sound in a new way, while at the exhibition it rely's on the user making sound to create the visual reaction from the speakers the focus is on the interaction and visual reaction.

8 comments:

ZoeW said...

Not only is this artsy movie cool but the concept is also compelling. I once watched this movie about a woman who was deaf but played the drums for a living. She could hear/feel the vibrations of the drums though the ground and though her hands. It was truly amazing and makes you wonder if sound design really is that different from the other visual forms of design. Sound is a feeling as well as what you hear, it has texture, pattern, repetition, color.

Margaret said...

The pictures of the exhibit found on the website look incredibly cool. This piece is both very aesthetically pleasing, and very interesting; though I suppose as someone interested in theatrical sound, I’m a little biased. It seems that sound in general is something that most people take for granted and pay little conscious attention to. When someone sees a piece of art that they like, they can generally point out the specific things that they like about it. Sound is more of a subconscious medium, and it is thus harder to pinpoint the specific aspects of it that please us. This exhibit shows people a physical manifestation of sound, and could perhaps make then think more about the effects of sound in daily life.

Will Gossett said...

This looks like a really neat concept for an exhibit. I think making things interactive and very tangible draws in an audience more than a static painting or object would. It's also cool to see the physical result of sound in the paint that gets splattered onto the ground around the speakers. I would have liked to see the technical preparation and build of this installation in addition to the resulting exhibit.

njwisniewski said...

This installation is both interesting and enthralling. I like to consider myself as a very visual person- and this got me thinking: we as humans easily relate our five senses to one another, and almost all of them go hand and hand with another image, sound, or projection of another idea or projection that is in fact a part of the given five senses. The zooming and shaking of the camera does a spot on job of somehow linking sound with image, the water ripples, the staccato movements, and slower blurs all produce beats and melodies, coherent to what is being heard all the while.

Madeline M. said...

I was actually disappointed by this exhibition. I watched the video once with sound and once without and found myself creating new sounds for the visualization on both rounds that did not sound anything like the original scoring of the exhibit. I often like the consider playing with the concept of switched senses especially in terms of design. I'm grateful that this article reminded me of that possibility, however I did not particularly find it compelling. I suppose what I found most disappointing was the tight shots of singular images while the music was composed of varying components. Then again, I should try this same experiment and see how difficult it is for myself.

A. Surasky said...

I think the while the concept with visualizing sound is interesting one, the way it's shown in the video is a bit disappointing, and with the music playing along with it, is confusing as to what is going on within it. It seems like the music within the video is what we "see" coming out of the speaker, but then we see the person talking into the microphone, and it's not clear. Once I went and read a little about more about the exhibition itself, it sounds like it might be fun to play around with, and it'd be interesting to see it in person. It's always interesting to experience someone else's perspective on synesthesia and the experience of it.

David Beller said...

Sound is generally thought of as being one of the hardest elements to talk about as it is completely without a visual component.

Sound is generally thought of as something that accompanies a visual action (wind blowing, door closing) however by connecting sound to other physical responses, it in some way abstracts the sound and makes you think about it in a more isolated way.

Allegra Scheinblum said...

This seems like a really great, interesting exhibit. I think that a lot of people don't understand/ think about sound because it's not something you can see. This seems like a great way to get people to have more of an appreciation/ understanding of sound. I also love that the people viewing the exhibit can have an effect on it. The visualization of how the sounds they are making into the microphone affect the liquid in the speakers is a great way to really bring the audience in and actually find it exciting.