Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Watch a Renaissance Painting Explode into Sound Particles
The Creators Project: Sound and color may seem, at least superficially, to have very little in common. But as Athens-based artist and physicist Yiannis Kranidiotis points out in his audiovisual project, Ichographs MdelP, in which colors from Rafael’s Madonna del Prato ("Madonna of the Meadow") decompose into audio, both sounds and colors can be described as waves.
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Just like the robot art article I commented on yesterday, I think that ideas like these are perfect examples of the kind of overlap in art and technology that Carnegie Mellon aims to support and teach in all of its students. The coolness of the technology aside, I'm curious as to what kind of things this can teach us about art. Why is it that these works happen to produce harmonious and musically appealing sounds when used in this way? I feel like this could point to an underlying harmony with color and general artistic composition from art to music. After all, we somehow much have a universal standard for what looks good-- or, at least, not bad. For example, the painting in the video, while not exactly something I would create myself, still seems visually appealing to me (or at the very least, not repulsive) despite the fact that it was painted by someone hundreds of years ago and from a completely different part of the world. Maybe this project points toward a hidden artistic standard of harmony and beauty.
This is just a really weird concept. Taking inspiration from Renaissance paintings and bringing them into a new light is interesting, but in the end, all they did is assign a note to a color based on warm colors being high notes and cool colors as low notes and explode them so all the sound is not at the same time. The final video is not super interesting, and I actually think the stills are more intriguing to look at. That being said, I’m always a fan of people exploring new things in the name of art. sure, they made a bit-map of the paintings which is not exactly new, but they put sound to it. Sound is usually forgotten in the realm of art because you have to turn on audio, have headphones, or be somewhere specific while visual art you can easily see without changing anything about your life at that moment. Exploring sound as an art form- outside of bands- is something that could become a whole other sub-set of art.
I think the concept behind this video is interesting, and I love how the visuals turn out, but I found the audio to be unpleasant. It worked initially when the viewer was moving through the cubes, but then when the cubes started falling into place it reminded me of a cheesy UFO sound effect, and when the viewers was panning across the painting, it just sort of hurt. I think pairing each color with a sound is a cool concept, but they way we process sound and color is different. We construct meaning out of sound and color two very different ways, high frequency sounds invoke different emotion than high frequency colors, and what frequencies of light look good together is different that what frequencies of sound sound good together. I think this piece points out an interesting line of thought, but I probably would’ve enjoyed it more if the sound design were different. Then again, given that the goal was probably the thought process, not the experience, I do think it was successful.
I love how this video creatively combines visual and sound design in a cohesive and fascinating way. While watching/ listening to it, I couldn’t put my finger on why the combination of it’s elements made sense, but somehow, it just sounded right. Reading the explanation afterwards helped me to understand better how the visual and sounds complemented one another (using warm colors as high tones and cool colors as low tones), and using visual distance from the floating “canvas” to the viewer in order to determine the volume of the noise. I always love art that compliments a visual aspect with another sense experience (sound, touch, etc) in order to heighten the immersion of the artwork. Theater is, of course, the perfect example of a blending of the senses in order to create a larger and more worthwhile final product. As someone who is usually very much focused on visuals, I forget how impactful sound can be, and how it is able to exemplify different feelings in a non-literal way. The high pitched noises felt warm, then hotter as they got more intense, and the clattering of all of the pieces falling down at once made me tense up; sound can impact our perception of visuals in a very powerful and visceral way.
This article is particularly interesting to me as we are just starting to work on our black box projects in basic design. In that project we are asked to create an environment that is entirely black and experiment how sound can affect our perception of the environment which we have created. Susan has asked us to think of sound along the same lines of design as we do the design of things we can see and feel. To find the lines and the texture within the sound in order to contrast or support our environments. The art piece from this article uses its soundscape as a visualization tool where a virtual image is accompanied by sound, however there is nothing to stop us from implementing a similar effect with physical objects that we can touch feel hear and see.
This was a very surreal experience. It was both relaxing and unsettling to watch and hear the painting. This really fits into what we are learning about, especially in Basic Design. For our black box project, we have to create sounds for it. Susan said to us that sound can have tone and value, just like color. I think that this video really exemplifies these concepts. Pairing each color with a tonal value gave the painting something more layered. It was really well done, both in the animation and in the sound that went along with it. I love how the video took us through different views, with the colors all individual and separate, to coming together and making the entire, detailed painting. I would love to explore more videos and ideas like this one; the combination of two things most people think of as separate is really interesting and cool.
I thought this video was fascinating because it was the frequencies of the color that were used to create the sound. In other other words, that sound was already a part of the painting, just not one we had not discovered yet. The people that worked on this project were able to discover something new about this masterpiece that is hundreds of years old and turn it into something strange yet beautiful. I think it really exemplifies the way new technology can allow us to experience old art in different ways. For example, the integration of media design into the world of theater has opened up a whole new way of expressing things on stage and communicating with the audience. Following the example of this video I think that we can allow the traditional craftsmanship and the new technologies we now have available to us to intermingle gracefully and work together to create new and exciting perspectives for our audiences.
Sound to me, whether in a Physics classroom or a theatre setting, has always represented a bigger, grander, intangible side of theatre production and design that I have struggled to grasp since day one. I get it when I can hold a material in my hand and draw a design and measure and cut and build and make for a finished product that I can see and feel. When the product can't be touched is when I get a little nervous. How can I even design something I can't hold in my hands? This video seems like a creator's attempt to answer that question, and it is an attempt I value deeply. The representation of sound as something that exists within what can be held and seen brings it into a whole new perspective for me, showing a tangibility and structure which I have never been able to perceive. I wonder if this is how all sound designers see the product they create - or do they not have to see it at all? Is vision more in the ears than in the eyes to a sound designer? Thanks to this video I'm beginning to understand the answer a little better.
How interesting is this?! It is so amazing how the technology we have can give us a whole new perspective of an art piece from another time and even the one's today. I love the idea that the article presents about comparing the frequencies of contemporary paintings to the classical ones. As for the technical aspect of what makes this possible its truly fascinating! I would have never thought/ knew it was possible to combine the frequencies of color with those of sound. The display in the video did a great job of helping the view get the whole experience of the painting and was efficient in guiding the viewer through the experience. I think it is awesome how hearing the painting can be compared to viewing the painting! Does it provoke the same emotions? Does it provoke totally different emotions? I love how you get the opportunity to receive two different interpretations of a painting! I can't wait to see what they will do next with this technology.
This is such an interesting idea! It's wonderful to see how new technology and ideas can illustrate something insofar unseen about an older artwork. There's an aspect to painting that is incredibly connected with sound and color, of course...look at the work of Kandinsky, for example. In effect he did the opposite think, by listening to music and creating a painting. I wonder if it would be possible to do this in reverse. Could a frequency of sound be assigned to a frequency of light and therefore generate a pallete? Then a user could listen to a sound and see a visual response painted to a more exact nature than that of a human response to music. I think this would be a very interesting way, with a little more development, of explaining color to a blind person or music to someone who is deaf. Maybe by exploring this a new understanding of color and music and their relationship can be developed.
This is an extremely unique idea. I could see this being a really cool installation at a museum, or an awesome background for outdoor festivals, etc. The way that the shifting of the camera affects the sounds we hear is incredible, and I could easily see something like this being used for DJing or experimental music. As Fiona said above, what if this technology could be used to create a color palette? The art of combining audio with visual experiences can be extremely impactful, and this sort of technology could benefit theatrical arts and performance. Integrating this kind of audio/visual art in theatre could provide for new perspectives on older shows, and even be used to create new soundscapes for performances. Opportunities to combine technology and arts are pretty prevalent at CMU, and I could see students here eventually branching out into this technology! If anything similar to this does come to CMU, I'd definitely be interested in joining in.
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