© 2023 Studio Gianluca Iadema
un_i[n]verso - audiovisual sculpture
un_i[n]verso – audiovisual sculpture is a site specific work for sound, video, rebar sculptures, lights and shadows. The work stems from the desire to explore the broad concept of matter, between concreteness and transparency, with the aim of establishing a system in which different types of media merge with each other. Thus, creating an artistic form in which the viewer no longer perceived them as separated, but rather experiences them as a whole. On a dramaturgical level, Un_i[n]verso can be summarized as a constant, slow zoom that starts from macroscopic dimensions, those of digital landscapes, entering deconstructed cities and their details, floating between reality and imagination.
Commissioned by
Recontemporary (Turin IT)
Category
Audiovisual Sculpture
Specifics
2ch video, 2ch sound, 8 rebar sculptures, light and shadow | 11’00”
Years of creation
2021 – 2022
Concept and development
Key words: materiality, transparency, immersive, glitch, transformation, architecture, landscape, extended video, sculptures, deconstruction, computer graphics, cinema, narrative.
incipit no.1 : each element that is contained can become a container and vice versa.
Starting with a phenomenological approach, first were classified the different constituents of the audiovisual sculpture according to their material characteristics. Thus, to find those points of convergence and divergence, and create stronger interdependencies between them and transparency, with the aim of establishing a system in which different types of media merge with each other. Thus, creating an artistic form in which the viewer no longer perceived them as separated, but rather experiences them as a whole. On a dramaturgical level, Un_i[n]verso can be summarized as a constant, slow zoom that starts from macroscopic dimensions, those of digital landscapes, entering deconstructed cities and their details, floating between reality and imagination.
Concept and development
Key words: materiality, transparency, immersive, glitch, transformation, architecture, landscape, extended video, sculptures, deconstruction, computer graphics, cinema, narrative.
incipit no.1 : each element that is contained can become a container and vice versa.
Starting with a phenomenological approach, first were classified the different constituents of the audiovisual sculpture according to their material characteristics. Thus, to find those points of convergence and divergence, and create stronger interdependencies between them and transparency, with the aim of establishing a system in which different types of media merge with each other. Thus, creating an artistic form in which the viewer no longer perceived them as separated, but rather experiences them as a whole. On a dramaturgical level, Un_i[n]verso can be summarized as a constant, slow zoom that starts from macroscopic dimensions, those of digital landscapes, entering deconstructed cities and their details, floating between reality and imagination.
Sculptures and shadows
incipit no.2: sculptures become the extension of the video while shadows become the extension of the sculpture.
The wire mesh texture given by the rebar sculptures recalls an absent material, something that allows “to see through” and thus appears as a material element with non-material characteristics. As well as recalling the idea of building and its costitutive elements, becoming an extension of the video projection. This also translated into an advantage for the use of light and shadow, which, blending with the sculptures, become indistinguishable from their origin, thus becoming a natural extension of the sculptures. The latter are left to their monolithic imagery, overlaid by their shadows which give them a greater spatial element. The shadow thus becomes a trace of matter, therefore representing also a magnification and amplification of their physicality. Shadows make sculpture performing as well thanks to the movement of the lights, creating perspective distortions. Thus, perspective becomes a structural element that breaks the frontal visual direction. The reflection of the video on the floor should not be underestimated as well, as it will generate plays of light, expanding the space perception.
Video and sound
incipit no.3: transparency and concreteness are interchangeable: what is concrete can become transparent and vice versa.
Videos carry the visual narration, floating between cinema and computer graphic. Far away, starting from deconstructed landscapes and indefinite spaces, the camera moves, approaching digital architectures, dismantled buildings, entering their details. As a metaphor of glitch, naturally connected to Un_i[n]verso’s sound components. Another fundamental point was to think of sound no longer as something transparent but rather as something that could be perceived as material. The idea of “sound as an object” may seem unusual, due to its characteristic. Therefore my research led me to think it in relation to other elements, to contextualized it, being able to stimulate our perception to imagine it other ways. Contextualization, as well as the sound sources (for example clicks and noises), are fundamental to trigger such process, since we may perceive sound materiality according to its potential of making humans orientating in a space. Many composers and philosopher confronted them selves with this question, elaborating different hypothesis.
As Michel Chion writes in Guide to Sound Object, sound objects can be understood as a perception of a totality that remains identical through different listenings, assuming that the material value of sound is given by its objectivity. Somehow close to the French composer Pierre Schaeffer’s concept, who tried to discover a concreteness of the lived auditory experience, often obscured by the semantic aspect. These concepts naturally expand in the phenomenology of Martin Heidegger and Gilbert Simondon, that helps to embrace the idea of sound as thing. As with any object, the tendency is to place it in relation to another. But, in this case, is essential to shift our attention to those processes and relations of material individuation that give rise to sound identities, introducing the idea of independence of sound from a possible listener. The concept of concreteness of sound often reflects on its mimetic nature of its possible representation, but it is equally interesting to think about the perspective that offers us the material potential of sound, to give rise to forms through connection and association between machines, bodies, signals and ideas. Therefore the materiality of a sound is also linked to its function. The relation of a certain sound, in a precise context, focusing on its phenomenological immediacy, can
therefore lead to a more material perception of it.
Formally, the project consists of two macro-sections (a and b), divided into eleven scenes which follow one another, sometimes with abrupt interruptions, sometimes with smoother transitions. Section a, as far as video content is concerned, is characterized by the prevalent use of imagery landscapes which are then used to generate sound material through an audio synthesis called scanline. The basic principle of scanline synthesis is based on copying pixel values from a digital image into an audio buffer which is then used as the waveform for a wavetable oscillator. The pixels are usually read along a straight line in the image, but generally speaking an arbitrary grouping of pixels could be translated to a waveform.
Thus, we can say that is a type of image sonification. The visual content of section b, on the other hand, uses various elements of deconstructed architectures, starting from floor plans and skeleton of buildings. The sound component in this case is generated through the use of chaotic generators, which represent a deterministic set of equations, which can take different starting parameters. The equations define a system whose evolution over time is highly sensitive to initial conditions, and can exhibit highly intricate behaviour. In the case of Un_i[n]verso, the variables of those generators change
according to the videos pixel values. It was essential to create a strong interdependence between sound and image, hence I thought of using techniques that would allow the sound to be generated directly from the video, rather than using arbitrary
synchronizations.
Video and sound
incipit no.3: transparency and concreteness are interchangeable: what is concrete can become transparent and vice versa.
Videos carry the visual narration, floating between cinema and computer graphic. Far away, starting from deconstructed landscapes and indefinite spaces, the camera moves, approaching digital architectures, dismantled buildings, entering their details. As a metaphor of glitch, naturally connected to Un_i[n]verso’s sound components. Another fundamental point was to think of sound no longer as something transparent but rather as something that could be perceived as material. The idea of “sound as an object” may seem unusual, due to its characteristic. Therefore my research led me to think it in relation to other elements, to contextualized it, being able to stimulate our perception to imagine it other ways. Contextualization, as well as the sound sources (for example clicks and noises), are fundamental to trigger such process, since we may perceive sound materiality according to its potential of making humans orientating in a space. Many composers and philosopher confronted them selves with this question, elaborating different hypothesis.
As Michel Chion writes in Guide to Sound Object, sound objects can be understood as a perception of a totality that remains identical through different listenings, assuming that the material value of sound is given by its objectivity. Somehow close to the French composer Pierre Schaeffer’s concept, who tried to discover a concreteness of the lived auditory experience, often obscured by the semantic aspect. These concepts naturally expand in the phenomenology of Martin Heidegger and Gilbert Simondon, that helps to embrace the idea of sound as thing. As with any object, the tendency is to place it in relation to another. But, in this case, is essential to shift our attention to those processes and relations of material individuation that give rise to sound identities, introducing the idea of independence of sound from a possible listener. The concept of concreteness of sound often reflects on its mimetic nature of its possible representation, but it is equally interesting to think about the perspective that offers us the material potential of sound, to give rise to forms through connection and association between machines, bodies, signals and ideas. Therefore the materiality of a sound is also linked to its function. The relation of a certain sound, in a precise context, focusing on its phenomenological immediacy, can
therefore lead to a more material perception of it.
Formally, the project consists of two macro-sections (a and b), divided into eleven scenes which follow one another, sometimes with abrupt interruptions, sometimes with smoother transitions. Section a, as far as video content is concerned, is characterized by the prevalent use of imagery landscapes which are then used to generate sound material through an audio synthesis called scanline. The basic principle of scanline synthesis is based on copying pixel values from a digital image into an audio buffer which is then used as the waveform for a wavetable oscillator. The pixels are usually read along a straight line in the image, but generally speaking an arbitrary grouping of pixels could be translated to a waveform.
Thus, we can say that is a type of image sonification. The visual content of section b, on the other hand, uses various elements of deconstructed architectures, starting from floor plans and skeleton of buildings. The sound component in this case is generated through the use of chaotic generators, which represent a deterministic set of equations, which can take different starting parameters. The equations define a system whose evolution over time is highly sensitive to initial conditions, and can exhibit highly intricate behaviour. In the case of Un_i[n]verso, the variables of those generators change
according to the videos pixel values. It was essential to create a strong interdependence between sound and image, hence I thought of using techniques that would allow the sound to be generated directly from the video, rather than using arbitrary
synchronizations.