Pythagoras and Austinites Discover the Musical Intervals – September 2012
My friend Jessica co-curated this very intriguing inter-disciplinary art show this past month, so I just had to submit something.
My art statement:
My feeling is that physical truths which can be expressed mathematically are inherently present all around us and therefore intuitive. Finding the mathematical relationships which describe those truths gives tangible (albeit still mysterious) justification for our unconscious recognition of things like the “good sound” of a perfect fifth.
The invitation to create art about a sonic concept prompted me to delve into my synaesthetic pathways. Similar to Pythagoras encountering the perfect tonal relationships, I can relate as a photographer encountering color and/or shape combinations which simply “sing”. In this installation, I present two photographs which I have “translated” sonically by breaking them down into different visual-auditory elements/motifs. By no means scientific, this process is a kind of intuitive approximating that I rely on as an art-maker…
After matching the sounds in my head to field recordings and keyboard tones, I engaged in some improvisational play to combine the elements into compositions. (Enjoy!)
I didn’t get a photo of the installed piece, but here are the two photos I submitted:
They were displayed above a diagram showing how I dissected the images for “elements”, and a small shelf for a CD player with headphones. The audio project can be heard at: http://soundcloud.com/the-lost-art-of/sets/pythagoras-sound-project.
Synaesthetic Breakfast 