Sophia Brueckner: Code That Sings Itself

Title:

Code That Sings Itself

Artist(s) and People Involved:

Creation Year:

2011

Medium:

C++ code, sound

Artist Statement:

This C++ program maps its own code structure to sounds that recorded using only the built-in microphone on an iMac. The artist recorded samples of herself singing, typing, pushing on the desk, tapping on the computer, and breathing. The program goes through its own code line by line using the characters, whitespace, punctuation, and line length to generate the music. Strong programming is elegant and concise, and, like a poem, it makes good use of whitespace. This piece translates how programmers describe their work, strangely poetic, into sound, but it unexpectedly does so with a female voice.