Visual Music

The Sound and Image: Aesthetics and Practices book edited by Andrew Knight-Hill is available to pre-order on the Routledge website and on Amazon.  It is available in April.  A Focal Press/Routledge publication and part of the Sound Design Series. Publisher's Description  Sound and Image: Aesthetics and Practices brings together international artist scholars to explore diverse sound and image practices, applying critical perspectives to interrogate and evaluate both the aesthetics and practices that underpin the audiovisual. Contributions draw upon established discourses in electroacoustic music, media art history, film studies, critical theory and dance; framing and critiquing these arguments within the context of diverse audiovisual practices. The volume’s interdisciplinary perspective contributes to the rich and evolving dialogue surrounding the audiovisual, demonstrating the value and significance of practice informed theory, and theory derived from pra...

Boogie Stomp Pink I saw this gem of a work at the Sound / Image 2019 Symposium at University of Greenwich, London in November 2019 and loved it.  It was presented in the installation and in a screening.  It is the work of Independent artist Stuart Pound who lives in London and has worked in film, digital video, sound and the visual arts since the early 1970’s. Stuart's film work is quite incredible and can be seen on his vimeo channel.  He collaborates with the poet Rosemary Norman. "This boogie dance performed by William & Maeva was downloaded from the internet. Vertical sections taken from each frame are arranged into 24 panels to show pattern and movement across every second of it. First shown at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in Sept 2017." Boogie Stomp Pink from Stuart Pound on Vimeo . View more of Stuart Pounds work on vimeo at: https://vimeo.com/stuartpound Sound/ Image 2019 Symposium, University of Greenwich https://blogs.gre.ac....

Stages by Paul Klooren I saw this recently at the Sound Image 2019 Symposium held at the University of Greenwich.  I really enjoyed the mixture of natural images and animated drawn visual elements and the use of stillness and motion. It felt like a very dramatic work.  All the sounds originate from a guitar. Klooren is currently studying audiovisual composition in the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre and works mainly with filmed footage and animation. Stages View more works by Paul at his youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8OT3olRdwnawKdUsVCmKXw

About In Situ EnsembIe "The In Situ Ensemble is comprised of three performer-composers: Michael Janz on synthesizers, Ian Stahl on guitar, vocals, and electronics, and Anthony Storniolo on percussion and live video synthesis. They create site-inspired audiovisual performances by blending electroacoustic free improvisations with audio and video recordings gathered from the surroundings of where the performance will take place. Their work uses documentation as a catalyst for improvisation; field recordings and video recordings become source materials that are then translated and manipulated, recontextualizing our preconceived notions of the sonic and visual objects. Musically, the trio draws upon a diverse soundscape that ranges from quiet minimalism to complex textures and loud, distorted noise." In Situ are interested in blending audio and visual improvisation and have developed a system that incorporates analog video synthesizers that have microphones built in,...

The Center for Visual Music ( CVM ) has set up a a library, gallery and archive of the history of Visual Music at Patreon. Become a member at a range of prices to access exclusive content of relevance to the history and contemporary practice of visual music. More info on CVM's collection "has the world’s largest collection of Visual Music-related materials. The collections include papers, films and artwork by Oskar Fischinger; the original research collection of animation historian Dr. William Moritz, and collections covering the history of Visual Music: artists, exhibitions, theories, color organs, vintage instruments, Expanded Cinema, performances, historic events, 1960s psychedelic light shows and more." [ source ] For more information on the CVM Patreon website and to join to get exclusive content visit:  https://www.patreon.com/CenterforVisualMusic/overview

BFI - restoration from archive. "Missing for over 80 years, this experimental film by Bauhaus teacher and artist László Moholy-Nagy was found by BFI curators embedded in a reel of film that also contained Oskar Fischinger's Early Experiments in Hand Drawn Sound. László Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946) was a tenacious, restless creative who associated with various early twentieth century vanguard art movements. Teaching at the legendary Bauhaus school, which this year sees its centenary, his early optical sound films experimented with the formal properties of film and blurred the lines between sound and image and the act of hearing and seeing sound. Newly scanned at 4K, the restoration of ABC in Sound / Tönendes ABC will receive its world premiere at BFI Southbank on 18 June." Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui_FU-KAZMM

D.D. Jameson devised a systematic approach to create a colour music score for a specially adapted piano. His scores took the information from a piano music score and applied it to a sound-music colour scheme and translated it into a colour score. The colour score communicated the musical information - such as notes, rhythm, durations. His score was to link to a special adaptation of a piano music instrument that would have the keys prepared with the relevant colours. The musician could then play the piano by following the colour music score.  Not only were the piano keys to be coloured according to his colour to tone analogy system but the score was to also communicate other aspects of the musicianship such as: the intervals of the music, the notes and their octaves, by mapping the height of the colour to the octave of the note and the width of the colour to the duration of the note. "A pianoforte having been prepared in the manner described, any air may be slo...

BOOK: Visual Music Masters: Abstract Explorations: History and Contemporary Research Author: Adriano Abbado 2018 Adriano Abbado’s recent publication on the history and contemporary practice of Visual Music is available now. A great resource for all interested in learning more about the origins and the field of visual music. It is richly illustrated and very clearly organised and so is also really great for pedagogy purposes too. You can order the book at Amazon at the following link Adriano has provided some more information on the book at his website: http://www.noisegrains.com/?page_id=237 Book topics I History The Beginnings Music and Early Twentieth-Century Luminous Instruments Abstract Films Music and Abstract Art Electronic Art II Contemporary Developments Animations and Videos Installations Performances Language Appendix Synesthesia

http://centerforvisualmusic.org/Symposium/CFP.html PRESS RELEASE from CVM: CFP: CVM Symposium 2018 Exploring and Preserving Visual Music In association with Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, Sonoma County, California August 14-16, 2018 Deadline for submissions: March 23, 2017 Website:  http://centerforvisualmusic.org/Symposium/CFP.html Center for Visual Music ( CVM ) is pleased to announce its call for paper submissions for a Symposium on Visual Music, August 14-16, 2018, in association with Sonoma State University. The symposium will explore the theories, histories, and practices of visual music. It features two days of keynote talks and presentations from international scholars, artists, curators and students, plus a final half day of special sessions and a roundtable workshop on August 16. A series of screenings occur throughout, featuring historic and contemporary visual music works. Set in Sonoma County’s wine country, the symposium also features sever...

Oskar Fischinger: Visual Music CVM (Center for Visual Music) has just released a new Oskar Fischinger DVD available now to order from CVM, entitled:  Oskar Fischinger: Visual Music The DVD features the following works: Study no. 2, c. 1930, silent Study no. 5, 1930 Study no. 8, 1931 Coloratura, 1932 Muratti greift ein (Muratti Marches On), 1934 Swiss Trip (Rivers and Landscapes), 1934 Komposition in Blau (Composition in Blue), 1935 ( excerpt online ) An American March, 1941 with bonus features: Pierrette I, 1924-26 1920s-30s Home Movies and Experiments, Berlin (black and white) Squares fragment (1934) and various 1930s color animation tests, image below (note, Squares image is from original artwork painted for the film) "Concerto" and newly discovered animation tests made in Hollywood, 1945-46 - TRAILER showing one test from this reel Excerpts from 8mm Home Movies at Wonderland Park, Los Angeles (c. 1959-1962) ORDER INFORMATION For more informa...

The bi-annual Seeing Sound Symposium is seeking works and papers for its forthcoming symposium to be held in Bath Spa University, UK The deadline is VERY soon - tomorrow the 19th January 2018 has been extended to 24th January 2018 - so time to get your entries in. Please do get your paper ideas and or works submitted for consideration for this exciting and worthwhile event. Visit: http://www.seeingsound.co.uk/2018-2/seeing-sound-2016-submissions/ to submit. Seeing Sound Website:  http://www.seeingsound.co.uk/ PRESS RELEASE: "Seeing Sound will return for its 5th edition on the 23rd-25th March 2018. We are now open for submissions of papers and audiovisual work, deadline 19th Jan! Seeing Sound is an informal practice-led symposium exploring multimedia work which foregrounds the relationship between sound and image. It explores areas such as visual music, abstract cinema, experimental animation, audiovisual performance and installation practice through paper session...

Louis M. Brill’s "Lumia projections are very special if presented in a very slow undulating movement as the light forms unfold, shape shifting from one sensuous image to another. Often to extend the visual presence of animated Lumia a musical track accompanies the Lumia motion which is no different than adding a musical score to a film. When music is played with a Lumia composition, it adds a narrative, emotional and dynamic presence to the abstract moving light as the mind attempts to synchronize the sound and visuals being presented.” [Source: You can view examples of Louis M. Brill’s lumia projections on vimeo now. Earlier I wrote a post about Louis’s blog Sacred Lumia at https://sacredlumia.wordpress.com/ where he posted a very useful article on visual music. You can visit that post here . In this blog,  Sacred Lumia , he has explored the process of Lumia and how it fits into the world of art, cinema and culture as a visual medium of appreciation Sacred Lumia Blog https://s...

There are a number of David Hockney exhibitions taking place soon. The  Metropolitan Museum of Art  is scheduled to exhibit  David Hockney , which showcases the artist. Hockney will also be featured in the upcoming exhibition  David Hockney: 82 Portraits and a Still Life  at the  Guggenheim Museum Bilbao . For more information, such as bio, works, articles and exhibition listings on David Hockney, visit: https://www.artsy.net/artist/david-hockney

The University of Greenwich, London is looking for submissions for the forthcoming Colloquium to take place 10-12 November 2017 Through a series of complementary strands – talks, screenings, loudspeaker orchestra concerts – the event will bring together artists and experts to investigate sound and sound-image phenomena. They are seeking papers and compositions which explore the relationships between sounds and images, and the images which sounds can construct by themselves. CALL FOR WORKS: Paper Submissions Audiovisual (Fixed Media) Compositions Acousmatic Works Audiovisual Live Performances The deadline for submissions is 1 September 2017. Further details of the call can be found in the attached document and on the conference website: http://www.gre.ac.uk/ach/events/soundimage For any queries please write to: Sound-Image@greenwich.ac.uk

MuVi5: International exhibition of video and moving image on synesthesia and visual music Palacio Abacial y Convento de Capuchinos, Alcalá la Real, Jaén, Spain 18-22th May 2018 Alcalá la Real (Jaén), Spain Abstract registration deadline: September 30, 2017 Submission deadline: September 30, 2017 Call for Works MuVi5 invites artists, musicians, designers and performers, also professors and university students, to submit proposals of kinetic works to be part of a public exhibition, with performances and discussions. Visual Music exhibition is part of the Sixth International Congress "Synaesthesia: Science & Art", to be held from the 18th to the 22th of May 2018, Palacio Abacial y Convento de Capuchinos, Alcalá la Real (Jaén, Spain). The topic of the exhibition is visual music and synesthesia. For “visual music”, we intend every representation to be only visual or audiovisual, suggested by the music. The correspondences between the visual and music can be the results of sy...

A most interesting and exciting project conceived by Luca De Rosso. AVO is a audiovisual performance work that explores live human-computer collaboration. It is a project that is at its early stages but it has already been documented immacutely by De Rosso. He is also very generously providing his software as open source for anyone who would like to also try it for their own audiovisual work. De Rosso is open to bookings for the performance of this work, which you can make an enquiry about online via a form on his website. Documentation of AVO - Luca De Rosso AV0 is an exploration on human-computer collaboration in the audio visual field, dedicated to those believing in computers as partners in the creative flow. "In the computer-aided creative process, whether it’s wireframing a design, programming or producing music – our actions often generates unpredicted results. I began to appreciate and consume these instances not as undesired output but as computer input in my creative...

Urban Projections performs at Splice Festival - the UK’s only dedicated audiovisual performing arts festival which runs from 26-28 May 2017. http://www.splicefestival.com/ Rebecca Smith (aka Urban Projections) is creating some fabulous work for various settings, and the work is full of creativity, innovation and ingenuity and really worth checking out further and if you are in London do go see her performance at the Splice Festival. Rebecca kindly took time out of her preparations for her performance at the forthcoming Splice Festival to answer a few questions about her work and forthcoming performance. I am very happy that she answered some questions and for me to now present her answers to the readers of this visual music blog and to get the opportunity for Rebecca herself to give us a fantastic snapshot of Urban Proection's work. Q. Hi Rebecca, your work with visual projections in different settings is very exciting, can you introduce yourself briefly to the visual music aud...

The worldwide talented and creative audio visual performing artists and musicians of our times are presenting to audiiences in London from 26-28 May 2017 for the SPlCE FESTIVAL SPLICE is in its second year and is the only festival for AudioVisual (AV) arts in the UK. It’s an amazing live line-up boasting top AV acts from across the globe, (headliners include Coldcut, Mira Calix, Filastine, DJ Food, Zan Lyons, J:Kenzo, EBN, Urban Projections, Mius, Optika, Adam Smith (talk) and workshop with Resolute), taking place from 26-28 May 2017. Splice Festival 2017 Press Release: Splice Festival is back for its second edition, taking place over the bank holiday weekend 26th - 28th May 2017 at East London’s multi-arts centres Rich Mix , Red Gallery and Kamio . Part of the EU funded AV Node network, Splice brings together over 40 international artists to celebrate the diverse field of audiovisual performance , including live cinema , AV remixing , VJing , video art and projection mapping...

" Cluste r is an immersive audiovisual site-specific installation that explores relationships between space, time and perception. Geometric schematization of architecture using light instruments transforms the space into a container for the abstract language of light and sound.” Cluster - Playmodes Documentation Playmodes have provided extensive documentation and videos about their Cluster project on their website at: http://playmodes.com/web/cluster-mira/ They use their own software created by Playmodes and integrate this with a hardware system to transform architectural spaces into audiovisual experiences. "The audiovisual discourse generated in real time using software created by Playmodes, researches the possibilities of formal clusters of oscillators applied to the control of light, sound and atonality to the limits of synaesthetic perception.” Please visit their website to investigate this exciting project utilising light and sound to create art experiences for architec...

Sacred Lumia Gallery by Louie M. Brill Louis M.Brill is a lumia artist who works from his Lumia art studio in San Francisco, US. He also writes a blog named, Sacred Lumia , here he explores "the processes of Lumia and how it fits into the world of art, cinema and culture as a visual medium of appreciation”. This is a really great resource for artists and scholars interested in the practice and context of lumia art. Louis embraces “the light as the paintbrush and canvas to present Lumia art as a very evocative and nattarive visual presence.” An important part of his practice is that lumia can be controlled through directed artistic intensions and I think this is a very commendable point. WIth the advent of technologies that can do the art for you, there is still the important consideration of artistic intention and from this stand point creating a work that works with light. Louis is open to comments and discussion on his blog, so please do drop by and join in the conversation...

Live@CIRMMT presents: Videomusic Videomusic Concert The live@CIRMMT Performance Series includes four to six performances per year that highlight the artistic research output of CIRMMT. http://www.cirmmt.org/activities/live-cirmmt/videomusic On 8th December, 2016 Live@CIRMMT presented Videomusic presenting videomusic works of the following composers/artists. Bret Battey (US) https://vimeo.com/bathatmedia Julien Beau (France) https://vimeo.com/julienbeau Myriam Boucher (Canada) https://vimeo.com/user20638366 Line Katcho (Canada) https://vimeo.com/user18362331 Further Resources Article: Matter and Emotion: Myriam Boucher’s Waves of Sound and Light Posted by Taliesin Herb in FringeBlog on December 7, 2016 http://www.cirmmt.org/activities/live-cirmmt/videomusic Myriam Boucher - Cités _excerpt

Shoko Ise (Visuals) and Steve Jansen (Music) -"Swimming In Qualia - Ascent" Swimming In Qualia - Ascent The visuals and music in this music video installation work, "Swimming in Qualia - Ascent" are well matched. The visuals are by Shoko Ise and the music is by Steve Jansen. What strikes me as rather beautiful about this work is the misty, faded, soft look of the visuals in which shadows and suggestions of light coming in from afar are presented and the durations of the transitions and the movement suggest a gentle place. The long tones and gong like sounds suggest an atmosphere of gentle softness also.  There are some beautiful vertical cutting and crossfades of flowers, lilies and leaf foliage that create the most mesmerising effect. A visual technique that I have seen in many works, reminding me of the temporal cut up photographic collages of David Hockney but in the moving image temporal domain, Swimming In Qualia - Ascent Words: Maura McDo...

Ryoichi Kurokawa, arranging the audiovisual display Ryoichi Kurokawa creates stunning audiovisual work for music concert and installation settings. His aesthetic has a recognisable visual and sound, although that aesthetic does appear in lots of other visual and sound approaches by other artists working at this time, one can still recognise Kurokawa’s work. I did a bookmark type blog post in 2009 about his work. Revisiting his work and examining the documentaiton on his website (a really lovely experience in itself), his work has really developed in the interim period and in particular what is of note is his use of the display in his work in which he arranges in unusual positions. For example, in rheo: 5 horizons, the 5 HD plasma displays are arranged not horizontally but vertically and in sequence, each of these displays are fed a channel of video and there is 5 channels of sound. His recent work unfold (2016), consists of three projections arranged in a curvature presentat...