Philosophical and psychological research results show that there is a substantial difference between seeing and hearing a data set, because both evolve and accentuate different aspects of a phenomenon. From a philosophical point of view the eye is good for recognizing structure, surface and steadiness, whereas the ear is good for recognizing time, continuum, remembrance and expectation. – Florian Dombois

visual = pattern recognition
aural = temporal resolution

I will not make any more sustainable art.

I will not make any more interactive art.

I will not make any more biomimetic art.

Sure I won’t.

Week 4′s assignment for Expression Frameworks was to, “plot the geographic aspects of your data according to latitude and longitude”.  This can take many forms.  I chose to sonify geographic data.  My goal is to create a sonic topography of environmental data.  Data points are converted to streams of sound tuned to just intonation.  Depending a variables in the data ecosystem –  notes, frequencies and filters with shift between consonance and dissonance – allowing one to hear how polluted or healthy our biome is at any given moment (a data earth song of sorts).

• Experimenting with the Max/Msp ‘Real-time Composition Library’ by Karlheinz Essl (http://www.essl.at).
• Using these compositional objects with the geographical parameters of the data feed (lat/long, temp, etc…)
• Experiementing with a JSON File Parser when using javascript in MaxMSP.
• Using ‘freq2note’ object in Max/MSP which converts frequencies from the range of 20 Hertz to approximately 3500 Hertz, and maps them across 8 octaves.
• Vade (who is just amazing in general) has a curios XML parser for the Max/MSP/Jitter environment as well.  ShareCMS visualizer is an example of how to download an ATOM feed with Jitter, buffer it, parse it and then display any jpg’s mentioned in the sourcecode with jitter, and apply some processing.

I was perhaps first introduced to the concept of the sonification of data through exposure to Andrea Polli’s work when I met her at the Weather Report show in Boulder, Colorado.  Her sonifications transform global weather and air pollution data into mesmerizing video and sound installations.  I find this type of schema compelling because I believe sound reveals hidden aspects of data sets that visualization cannot accomplish.  More importantly, there is an emotional/visceral aspect sonification achieves: sound bypasses the neocortex (rational brain) that many compelling visualizations cannot and resonates primal emotional cords of the limbic system (emotional core of the brain).

Yes, A Tree Still Grows in Brooklyn

I must confess, I’m not exactly sure what a living system is since in a very metaphysical sense we could interprete any human made system as exhibiting properties mimicing “natural” phenomena.  In many ways, we are so far removed from the natural world that we are blind to the layers of simulacra we impose, taking for granted the biological is in fact nothing more than a simulacra of environments uncontaminated from our heavy hand of technology; for example, agriculture, landscapes and even cuisine, even our ad hock environment.

So like most people, when I hear the words urban renewal or gentrification or property values, whatever, it really translates into “there goes the hood”.  Most people know on some gut level that the urban landscape will never, and personally, I mean never ever, compare to the fucking stupefying beauty of True Nature (I know, I realize I speak to those who have had the privilege of seeing a wild sunset/sunrise over ________, you name it), but you get my point hopefully.  And for some reason, I refrain from ranting about Saul Alinsky.

Junkspace:
As term the architect Rem Koolhaas coins, this is the residue humankind leaves over the planet Earth: urban parks, freeway overpasses, derelict sidewalks, minimalls.  Graffiti is perhaps one the most authentic modes of expression reacting against this artificial space that  reifys the primal and organic back into this human made void.  As a vernacular response,  it is itself as a living system complete with its own syntax, grammar and trends rising from the bottom up and so perhaps the most true and relevant.  But what if we were able to extend the street-level tools of expression: from the two dimensional to the biological?  Repopulating that intertitial space between consumer simulacra and political hubris for future generations.

I say this because the next front of “urban” and earthan renewal is not from the consumer or socio-political identity but rather from reintegrating ourselves back into Nature on Her own terms.  How?  I’m not sure but we must experiment towards the a balance.  Here are some honest examples:

Obligatory ivy covered wall.

I include this because for some reason I think the vertical greeness seems to resonate with everyone on a primal level.  Why are all buildings not like this?

Artvertising Berlin, Transmediale 2010 from Julian Oliver on Vimeo.For my midterm, I was inspired by Julian Oliver’s Artvertising both technically and conceptually as a reimaging and reappropriation of public space.    But how could be take this twist on Augmented Reality or as Oliver calls it “Improved Reality” to insert ourselves back into the space as an actor?

In the future, machines will be grown on trees.  Then they will eat us for eating them. After the cost of energy had made global shipping of raw materials and packaged goods unimaginable, only the rich could afford traditional, mass-produced commodities.Synthetic biology enabled us to harness our natural environment for the production of things. Coded into the DNA of a plant, product parts grow within the supporting system of the plant’s structure. When fully developed, they are stripped like a walnut from its shell or corn from its husk, ready for assembly.Shops have evolved into factory farms as licensed products are grown where sold. Large items take time to grow and are more expensive while small ones are more affordable. The postal service delivers lightweight seed-packets for domestic manufacturers.Using biology for the production of consumer goods has reversed the idea of industrial standards, introducing diversity and softness into a realm that once was dominated by heavy manufacturing. The product shown here is the Herbicide Sprayer, an essential commodity used to protect delicate engineered horticultural machines from older nature.