Kelli Sincock - Rendering Cymatics

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Time to make work again

Rendering Cymatics is a blog I began in order to fulfill the requirements of my Senior Show class at George Mason University. During that semester my life was hit with a profound number of serious challenges that made the completion of this body of work seriously difficult. At the beginning of the semester I found myself getting sick, overtaken by weakness, chills, and a constant desire to sleep. After several visits to the doctor with no answers I thought I would lose my mind when the wonderful Nurse Practitioner Po ran the right test and discovered I have contracted Lyme Disease. It was the answer we were looking for, but it also meant the beginning of a long battle to get well. As if a senior exhibit and Lyme disease were not enough to occupy me, I was also in the throws of an adoption effort to bring home a wonderful little boy from China. My husband and I were in the final stretch of our adoption efforts and I could barely read the documents, much less stand up! Somehow, with the patience of my teachers, the tenaciousness of my nurse practitioner, and the amazing dedication of my husband, I managed to get through ALL of these things! I finished up my senior show, I worked away at getting better and better physically each day, and I am now the proud momma of an amazing young boy named Gregory. It has now been two years and I am finally at a point where I feel ready to resume my artwork and focus on my exploration of science, music, metaphysics, spiritualism, fashion, culture, etc... through art. What a CRAZY journey it has been!

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Printing of the large canvas plates has begun! I’ve started with the Zoe Keating “Optimist” plate. I’m very pleased with the results.

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Pouring the first plate:  Cesaria Evora “Sodade”

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Final Chosen Cymatic Patterns

Below are the four patterns derived from the Chladni plate.  One pattern per song.

Pattern from Zoe Keating’s “Optimist”

Pattern from Tom Wait’s “Chocolate Jesus”

Pattern from Cesaria Evora’s “Sodade”

Pattern from Nick Cave’s “Into My Arms”

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VIDEO 5:  Rendering Cymatics - Music by Zoe Keating - “Optimist”.  Senior Project by Kelli Sincock.

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VIDEO 4:  Rendering Cymatics - Cesaria Evora - “Sodade”  Senior Project by Kelli SIncock.

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VIDEO 3:  Rendering Cymatics - Idiot Flesh - “Black Sand”  Project by Kelli Sincock.

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VIDEO 2:  Rendering Cymatics - Tom Waits - “Chocolate Jesus”  Project by Kelli Sincock.

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VIDEO 1:  Rendering Cymatics - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - “Into My Arms” Project by Kelli Sincock.

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VIDEOS OF CHLADNI PLATE

After quite an adventure of building my first Chladni plate and immediate burning out the speaker rendering it useless, I then rebuilt another Chladni plate with lighter materials and I can finally say I had success!!!   I honestly had NO idea what would manifest from running music through this plate.  All of the other images of actual laboratory grade Chladni plates are designed to receive PURE frequencies from a frequency generator, not music. So the patterns that they manifest are very clear and distinct.  But a Chladni plate built from a speaker that receives music is rendering patterns created from both frequency and vibration based upon several sounds including voice, various instruments, synthesizers, etc.  Some of the songs I tested created very subtle patterns and others created very distinct patterns.  I found that the more simplistic the song and slower the pace, the clearer the pattern. However, if the song did not have a variety of bass and treble notes then not much happened in terms of distinct patterns.   My next posts will show the five videos I was most pleased with.  Enjoy!

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BIG PLATES!

I have finally completed the preparation of the base plates.  In total I have 8 plates that measure 36″ x 48″.  My plan is to combine them into set of two, so two plates together will measure 72″ x 48″.  Each set has been gesso’d and painted a unique background color.  The colors are just the base at this point. (Refer to the previous post to understand the color arrangement.)  The paper I will be using on these plates measure 30″ x 44″ - BIG PRINTS!  

Below is a color sample of each color used on the four sets of plates.

And below are the eight canvas plates all painted and ready to go!

The next step is to apply the various cymatic patterns.  I have one pattern to work with so far.  Tomorrow I will be giving a second go around on the newly created Chladni plate.  I’ve replaced the steel plate with an aluminum one so hopefully this one will work much better!

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A LITTLE BACKGROUND

A couple years ago I began experimenting with alternative plate materials for some collagraph projects.  In my first experiment I utilized inexpensive hardboard from Home Depot which I covered with a base of spray paint (just to get a lighter color) and then used an acrylic lacquer to seal the board.  I then applied a pattern to the board using modge podge.  Once dry I made a series of large scale callagraph prints and titled them “Language”.  (See below)

I was very happy with the results.  An element appeared in the print that I did not expect.  Because I used a bristled paintbrush to apply the lacquer, and because I applied it in smooth strokes both vertically and horizontally, the indentations from the brush strokes created the illusion of fabric!  My background is in fashion design and I have always loved fabric, so this was a very happy accident.   I decided to try another experiment going one step further and actually utilize a fabric (canvas) as my substrate.  As a printmaker I often find myself falling in love with my plates.  Sometimes even more than my prints.  So, this time I began the project with the intention of creating mirror prints and plates. Meaning, the plate would be a direct mirror of the print in color and composition and once the plate has completely dried it would then be stretched onto stretcher bars.   I began by applying my canvas to a sheet of plexi glass utilizing spray mount adhesive.  I then painted the plate with a semi-gloss acrylic paint that was a similar color to my paper (in this case an ochre color).  After the acrylic dried I applied a pattern to the canvas using String Gel Medium.  The String Gel Medium is wonderful because it holds its shape while drying without flattening out.  Once my plate was dry I inked it up with a much darker plum color and wiped away the areas I wanted more exposed.  It took a few tries to get the perfect application of ink.  This is what the canvas looks like after 4 or 5 printings.  It dried beautifully. See below:

Detail:

Below you can see it’s counterpart, the actual print that was pulled from the canvas plate.  It is titled, “Resonance”.

Detail:

I was very happy with the outcome and pleased to see a transfer of the illusion of fabric from the plate on to the print itself. With this project I am continuing on with the utilization of canvas as my plate substrate and will utilize a similar method in preparation of the plates. However, this time I am going much larger AND I am utilizing the patterns created by my Chladni plate as my inspiration. Stay tuned!!

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Okay, this is pretty silly, but I’m glad my husband caught this before the speaker burnt out.  You can see a very distinct, almost butterfly, pattern appearing on the plate.  The substrate I used is salt, but you can also use sand.

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STAGE FIVE:  I opted to place the Chladni plate back into the speaker frame for support.  By doing this I was able to reconnect the plate system to the speaker wires which I connected to my stereo receiver.  I grabbed the first instrumental album I could find which was the Vienna Boy’s Choir 1970 recording of Johann Sebastian Bach's "The Passion According to Saint Matthew" side one.  Immediately, a pattern emerged!  I was pretty excited!! BUT THEN, I started smelling a burning scent and I noticed that the speaker was not moving as much as it had at first.   I went back to the original website which contains the instructions, and after reading some reviews I found that others had experienced the same thing. The advice given was to make sure the plate and center pin was as light as possible.  SO, back to the drawing board!  I ran back to home depot and found a 12″ square piece of aluminum.  (My first plate was a thing steel, but still quite heavy.)  

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STAGE FOUR:  Place plexi in place and mark the holes for the pins and drill.  Lock plexi in place and measure desired height for plate and cut off pin (it would be ideal to measure and cut the center pin BEFORE gluing center pin in place - I recommend doing it that way instead).  Measure and cut metal plate into perfect square.  Measure the exact middle of metal plate (plate needs to sit exactly balanced so be very careful to find the exact center).  Drill hole. Clean metal with rubbing alcohol to remove all dirt and oils and then spray paint with a matte black paint.  The plate is ready!

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STAGE THREE:  Remove center paper cone of speaker being very careful to not cut the copper wire connectors.  Drill center hole in plexi and insert plastic guide (cut from pen), glue into place.  Then, glue metal cone with pin securely attached in place.  

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STAGE TWO:  Temporary set up complete.  Next to remove the speaker cone and begin assembly.  (Dexter is always present supervising!)