“Forms – Screen Ensemble” by Playmodes
Title:
- Forms – Screen Ensemble
Artist(s) and People Involved:
Exhibiting Artist Collective(s):
Symposium:
Venue(s):
Artist Statement:
Forms -Screen Ensemble- is a generative visual music jukebox. Driven by chance and probability, this automata creates endless, unrepeatable graphic scores that are immediately transformed into sound by means of sonification algorithms. Images become sound spectrums, making it possible to -literally- hear what you see. The dream of Kandinski.
Each screen of this networked ensemble plays a particular instrumental role: Rhythm, Harmony or Texture.
Performed by this trio of automats, a visual music symphony evolves over time giving birth to unique sonic landscapes that will never be repeated again: from tonal ambient music to raging rhythms, surreal electronic passages or dance-floor beats.
Forms – Screen Ensemble was presented at 2020’s edition of Ars Electronica festival in Barcelona, thanks to a grant given by NewArtFoundation, Institut Ramón Llull and Hangar.org.
Forms is thought to be a flexible instrument in terms of formats and aspects. Because its fundamental nature is rooted in visual music algorithms rather than in a matter-specific phisicality, it can take many different forms. Although the Screen Ensemble takes the form of an automata inside boxes containing screens and speakers, we’re working on multiple derivatives that transcend this format: a live performance where a string quartet interprets the realtime generated scores; an immersive installation based on video-projection and multichannel audio; a software for live computer music or an internet streaming bot.
