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A collection of experiments exploring the interrelationship of sound and pattern in nature.

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Tom Bolitho, Moon Rise (Final Artwork Part 2/2)

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Moon Rise

Listen to Moon Rise by 467 #np on #SoundCloud

Tom Bolitho, Moon Rise (Final Audio Part 1/2)

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Tom Bolitho, Moon Rise (Artist Statement).

Bibliography/Influences:

CYMATICS: Science Vs. Music - Nigel Stanford - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3oItpVa9fs

Dr. Masaru Emoto's Water Molecule Experiment - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au4qx_l8KEU

Bjork - Biophilia (Tour Projections) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2kbd1Pt5d8

Joe Hisaishi - Princess Mononoke Soundtrack

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Moon Rise. (Cymatics Experiment)

This is "Moon Rise. (Cymatics Experiment)" by Visuole on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

Cymatics Experiment - Video Documentation and editing.

After rendering multiple videos playing with colour and different textures I finally landed on this one to export as I felt I was the most natural and represented to original patterns the most clearly. The video is cool however I feel it can be more refined.

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Cymatics documentation 1.

Here the liquid (water mixed with flour) can be seen sitting on top of a speaker. Camera is set up ready for video and laptop set aside to play audio.

I tested different water viscosities to see what would create the clearest patterns in the liquid. I then played the song at different octaves to see what frequencies would agitate it enough to create movement. I found that the low frequencies worked best in moving the water.. maybe because the liquid was mixed with flour it need a lower wavelength the move the thick liquid. however if i didnt do this, you would have been able to see the lines in the bottom of the water dish which would have disrupted the patterns in the end result.

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Analog Synesthesia

Listen to Analog Synesthesia by 467 #np on #SoundCloud

Ambient music experimentation Playing around with fully analog audio - working in a non-structured workspace layering audio directly ontop of eachother gives it a loose and more natural feel. this one was inspired by the Anime film Princess Mononoke by Hayao Miyazaki

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Experimentation 2: Max MSP Generative visuals For my second experiment following with the synesthesia theme I attempted to learn to use max msp to generate visuals from audio. these are some still shots of the basic shapes i was able to make due to my lack of knowledge of the program. could be super cool once i know how to patch properly.

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Ambient Synesthesia

Listen to Ambient Synesthesia by 467 #np on #SoundCloud

Audio for Experimentation 1 - Synesthesia.

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Synesthesia collaboration 1

These are the end result of the first collaborative experiment in visualising sounds.

The third black and white image is actually the first artwork made when listening to the ambient track for the first time.

the 1st black and white image was the second one that was made where i gave the instruction to isolate the sounds that she could hear and paint them.

the second colour image was made by giving the same instruction to isolate the sounds except now with added colour.

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I found this experiment extremely interesting. I think that the first image produced (Last photo) turned out the best. i think this is largely due to the fact that the audio had only been heard once at this point and that there wasn’t to much time to think about the the painting it was more spontaneous and reactive directly from the music.

I think the other two were more thought through which loses some uniqueness and abstract quality

of further testing I think this would be better to only play the audio to the artist once. or continuously through creating only one piece to reduce some variables and heighten spontenaity

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Assessment2.experimentation Collaboration experiment - emulating Synesthesia For this experiment, I made an ambient music composition and then replayed it back to the audience and asked them to paint what they heard.

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Kudos Gallery These artworks I found worked well in the space compositionally. They all have significant breathing space and work together with complimenting colors and textures and style that creates a unique and aesthetically pleasing work.

Other works however, I found didn't work too well in the space either were hung using pins on the outside that looks tacky or squished in to close to other works.

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Final Poster.

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Conceptual Statement

New and unique ideas in art and design are fostered through the process of collaboration between people and place. In Aboriginal culture, the connection to heritage is expressed in contemporary life by an individual’s relationship with land, waterways, animals, plants, and through relationships with other people. As seen through projects such as ‘Stories and Structures’, a collaboration that portrays the links between microscopic images and indigenous artworks. The project ‘explores how images from different traditions pass on knowledge and shape our understanding of the world’. They aim to encourage a more connected approach to modern scientific practice and a greater understanding of indigenous perspective and build community through helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth engage in science and higher education.

After researching this I went out into Ku Ring Gai Chase national park at West Head, which is where I have grown up, to explore my own connection to place. At the top of the Basin track, there are aboriginal rock engraving and ochre artworks which I went to look at and observe. But after doing this I didn’t come away with any more knowledge about the place itself. it soon became evident that without having a traditional custodian of the land there to interpret and transfer the stories of the artwork across. It makes it hard to gain a sense of connection.

This I guess shows the importance and power of a collaborative project such as ‘Stories & Structures’ which fosters the passing of knowledge to an expanded audience, linking all parties through similarities which in-turn builds community and a connection to place.

The poster visually represents the interrelationship of ideologies across any collaborative project and how they can work together to create something unique and interesting. I have highlighted this by using different mediums ie. drawing and digital vector art, and the complementing color scheme. The drawing itself is of a lotus root which represents the grounded approach to collaboration that an individual might take as they consider their own heritage, cultural identity and belonging to place. The wavy line represents the flowing of ideas as they weave in and out of the lotus structures. They also display a connection between the analog and digital realms and how they can interact with each other.

• Bibliography

(Web article) https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2018/06/13/stories-and-structures--aboriginal-art-meets-the-microscopic-wor.html

(Artwork Website) http://storiesandstructures.micro.org.au/

(Website) https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/aboriginal-sites/basin-aboriginal-art-site

(Government PDF) http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/workspace/uploads/files/media-protocols-for-indigenous-5b4bfd105bfa3.pdf

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Poster sketch ideas. 

Looking at form, shape and texture and how they could convey a collaborative process.

(Right) the idea of a cell structure as it represents a person's multiple ideas coming together to create something unique. also the interplay of type to show the relationship between organic and non organic and how hey can work together visually.

(Left) expanding on the cell idea i used the lotus root as a universal structure to portrays a grounded approach to collaboration that links one's heritage and background to the process. this is also expressed through drawing as a technique. the texture links to the photos in previous connection to place research.

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Continued research Assessment 1

Documenting place.

continuing on from looking at collaboration within the indigenous and non-indigenous community and how they use visual representation to pass on information,  set out to look around my own home to gain a better understanding of my own connection to a place where I have spent so many years. The first photo is of the Aboriginal rock carvings that sit above the basin on the road out the west head. it was interesting to learn that there are over 800 Aboriginal sites recorded across Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, each one a visible reminder of the rich Aboriginal heritage of the region. Basin Aboriginal art site is one of the best examples of rock engravings by the Garrigal people of the Guringai Nation.

However, it became evident to me that without having someone there to tell the stories that were behind the artworks or the significance of these sites, it became near impossible for me to grasp this deep connection to the land that was once experienced here. I think this becomes one of the more powerful outcomes of collaboration as it not only allows for the transfer of information to a wider audience but also creates a link that relates them together that creates a sense of community

The first image was taken from - https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/aboriginal-sites/basin-aboriginal-art-site (image taken from site as we got there too late and the images were super dark, you couldn't see the engravings)

Image 2,3,4 - were taken out near the engraving site at west head looking for elements I could possibly translate into graphic form for the poster. looking at textures/shape and form in nature.

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Collaboration Research Assessment 1.

Looking at collaborations between indigenous artists and media artists and how they can work together to create a wider understanding of an individuals connection to place and how that fosters the building of community.

Through relating new modern technologies with indigenous painting techniques we are able to visualize a direct link between the two that help us comprehend the complexity and intricacy of indigenous cultural heritage.

Stories & Structures: New Connections

‘Twenty-one talented artists from around Australia participated in the exhibition through the creation new works that demonstrate a connection between their stories and microscopic images of related parts of Country. They include artists from the Warmun Art Centre, such as emerging young talent, April Nulgit; several Warlukurangu Artists of Yuendumu, including Jennifer Napaljarri Lewis; youngest-ever NATSIAA finalist, Joshua Bonson; Yaegl artist Frances Belle Parker; exciting young Gamilaraay artist, Arkeria Rose Armstrong; and high-profile Cairns-based artists Brian Robinson and Arone Meeks.

All the microscopic images were captured on sophisticated electron microscopes in Microscopy Australia's labs around the country. The highly magnified images reveal some of the tiny structures that make up our world, from the cellular, right down to the atomic scale.

After its current run in Sydney, the exhibition will tour regional Australia with the aim of helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth engage with science and higher education, and to encourage a more connected approach to modern scientific practice and a greater understanding of Indigenous perspectives.’

Images

1. - http://storiesandstructures.micro.org.au/index.php/browse-by-micrograph/

2. - http://storiesandstructures.micro.org.au/index.php/browse-by-artwork/

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Sad Dreams

Final Work

Video Link - https://vimeo.com/272057154