A L L U V I U M   S E R I E S      [ k i n e t i c   p h o t o g r a p h s ]

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These pieces are designed and composed to be experienced simultaneously in a gallery environment - an installation comprised of three ceiling-mounted projectors throwing these kinetic photographs onto pools of water on the floor. The water is transduced by speakers so the patterns of undulated water's surface come from the sounds that come from the photographs of undulated water's surface to begin with. [This is an example of self similarity in a tangible form.]

The moving water generates modulations of the projected light that bounces back onto the walls of the gallery. The sound and the light combine to create an enveloping visual and aural environment [that is itself a synaesthetic experience]. The audience is compelled to use compound perception (seeing, hearing, touching) that will hopefully make them aware of Lateral Imaging [a product of non-linear thinking produced by simultaneity].

The ultimate conclusion is the idea that everything is one. The universe is monistic with internal plurality. We are integrated into this fabric, not separate or external. Our world creates us so that we can create our world. There is no reality beyond this interaction. All is one.

Adonai echad, L'olam va'ed. יְהוָה אֶחָֽד, לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד

. . . . . . . . . . .

You can open each kinetic photo in a separate window on a computer to get a general idea of how this installation would look and sound when overlaid. You can also play with the relative start times to see how different overlays will sound. It is recommended that you use good speakers. There is a lot of low-frequency sound.

KINETIC PHOTOGRAPHS

These are not videos. These are Kinetic Photographs each made from a series of stills.

Self-Similarity
They are made from photographs of standing waves in water. The shapes within the original frames do not change very much. They are self-similar. They are a study of how the reflection and refraction of the water subtly alters the appearance of the alluvial sands below the surface.

Non-Linearity
These are not linear. These are not displayed in a fixed order. The self-similarity makes it possible to display the stills in any order. The continuity remains (consistent). The sequence is constantly being shuffled, generating an almost endless number of variations. [three-quarters of a million combinations for each of the 3 frames on this page.]

The display order within the sequences are constantly being recalculated in real time. The display is run by a separate computer for each image.]

Alignment
When three variations of the same sequence are displayed side by side, certain frames will sometimes appear in 2 or even 3 different adjacent frames. This reinforces the visual impression. [This is a matter of the algorithm controlling the sequencing and is not a deliberate feature. This demonstrates the patterns of similarity and change that can come from good programming.]

[algorithmic programming relates to improvisation]

ORGANIC SOUND STRUCTURES

This is not music. These are Sound Structures generated from the original photographs.

Organics
The natural forms in the subject matter yield organic sound structures. Notes rarely ever start or end at the same time. All sound floats in and out in interweaving patterns. Sometimes the notes get so dense that they generate tone clusters, where the identity of the individual notes give way to the sound of the whole.

Sonification
The sound is generated directly from the photographs through a process now known as sonification. The placement of areas of tonality in Visual Space indicates the position of musical notes in Harmonic Space. The exact method changes for each piece by this artist.

Non-Linearity
The concept of Non-Linearity in the visual images is parallel to the idea of Variations on a Theme. This is Multiplicity.

The sound structures from each frame are similar (in harmonic form, dynamics and shape).This self-similarity makes it possible to play the sound pieces in any order. The continuity remains (consistent). The sequence is constantly being shuffled, generating an almost endless number of variations.

Perpetual Intermix
You are listening to three different sound pieces coming from three visuals. Each one is a different length and they never really line up. So you are listening to a constantly shifting set of relationships that also never repeat. This is the same situation as is happening with the kinetic photographs.

INSTALLATION OVERLAY

Multiplicity
Installations of this work are mounted in a gallery setting that present both the visual and aural components, not just side by side, but overlaid. The photos present organic structure. The organic sound is generated from that same visual source. Each medium is therefore presenting the same essential image using a different vocabulary, yet is being perceived through a different human sense, seeing and hearing.

Compound Perception
Absorbing multiple visual images and their aural counterparts requires the observer to employ Compound Perception. The final image only exists in the minds of the participants. The difference between foreground and background depends on where the audience focuses their attention.

Synaesthesia
“Synaesthesia is a neurological phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway”, according to Wikipedia. The effect of seeing and hearing the same image simultaneously is Synaesthesia. In a sense, each experience not only interacts with but creates the other, in both directions. The artist is making a synaesthetic experience possible for people who do not have this innate ability.

Lateral Imaging
Lateral imaging is a way of seeing the world. This is a philosophy that links our sensation, emotion, and conception. Lateral imaging views the world as a field of coincidental events, each affecting all others, everything connected in an intimate way.

Unity
The bottom line is to show how we are totally integrated with our world, not standing outside looking in. Our world creates us so that we can create our world. There is no reality beyond this interaction. All is one.