Output details

Lacus Temporis, computer realised sound and image

Threshold Studios, UK, commissioned Lacus Temporis (Lake of Time), with the support of Arts Council England. In this work I sought to expand the expressive range of generative audio and visual techniques originally developed in Mercurius (2007), in which the aim was to create an audiovisual work in which both image and sound are produced without cuts and splices, achieved through continual modulation of a single audio and visual process. I developed techniques for rendering delicate states hovering between visibility and invisibility, audibility and silence, order and uncertainty. A critical mass of stability and pattern coalesces into an illusion of solidity. These seemingly stable points, however, readily melt away, evoking a narrative of impermanence.

The visual technique, implemented as an Objective-C plugin for Apple Motion, was an extension of my previous 2D generative visual techniques with a system of compounded 3D rotations of points. I also sought to demonstrate the expressive range that could be attained using a single, subtle colour palette, in contrast to the stronger contrasts I had used in previous works.

My Compressed Feedback Synthesis (CFS) technique provides the sole sound source. CFS entails use of automatic gain control (AGC) in a time-delayed feedback loop. The approach can be conceptualized as a special expansion of a generalized comb filter, where feedback gain can be unity or greater. The system can be expanded with additional processing in the feedback loop to create highly flexible and sensually engaging sound materials. I implemented the synthesis process in SuperCollider and implemented algorithmic control mechanisms in Max/MSP. (See REF Item 2 for more information.) Lacus Temporis premiered at Glimmer: The Hull International Film Festival, received an Honourable Mention from Abstracta Cinema, Rome, and was published on the Threshold Studios DVD “Critical Mass: Kinetica/Hypnos."