Blur/Ear
8.15.03
Solo performance by Elise
Kermani
Placing a warm human body in the
electronic digital matrix - the body as a trigger as well as an
interference of the electronic/digital signal.
I set up a technical matrix in which
infrared and light wave sensors input movement data into my computer,
and then let go of the results. The performer (and viewer) activates
and finishes (awakens) the piece
Photo from the San Francisco
Electronic Music Festival, July 2003 *
Residual artifacts of digital
culture/digital art interest me, such as the jaggies of
jpeg images that are layered on top of each other in the "Onadime"
live processing software program that I created for the Blur/Ear
performance.
Video stills from rehearsal
of Blur/Ear
The source image for the performance is
horizontal rows of colorful stripes created by hand in
Photoshop:
The source sound clip is a .10 second
loop infinitely repeating.
Then I have the visual image move up
and down according to the change in audio frequencies.
I further process and move
the image by the infrared sensor which detects change in body
heat on stage (i.e. the performer). The performers
body triggers a rotation and transparency of the image:
and eventually distintegrates the image
altogether:
Additionally, the sound is projected
from wireless speakers so that the performer creates a
perceptual change in the sound according to the direction
of the speakers and her position on stage:
Photo from the San Francisco
Electronic Music Festival (SFEMF) *
Blur/Ear may also be installed after
the performance in a small room with white walls as an installation
in which the viewer triggers change. The source material
is intentionally stripped down to essential elements so that one can
observe the digital artifacts.