Osamu Sambuichi: Code

 
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Artist(s):


Title:


    Code

Exhibition:


Medium:


    Screen-based art, software application

Category:


Artist Statement:


    General interest is turning to analog processes even though comput­er advancements are rapidly accelerating artistic expression toward even greater digitalization. One of the factors underlying this trend is that the digital quality is never as good as the original analog quality despite super-high resolution. Another reason is analog expression’s emphasis on ambiguity.

    Computer advancements have enabled digital processing on a level unimaginable in the past. One gets the feeling, however, that freshness and innovation are suffering while digitalization continues to improve the quality of expression. Even though digital elements impress us with their realism, those same elements will feel extreme­ly unsophisticated and unnatural in just a few years. By contrast, live performances will always remain true.

    Unless the digital world becomes more realistic, it cannot surpass the quality of the analog world. You may wonder why some of the old digital forms of expression that should seem unsophisticated by today’s standards actually seem fresher than some of those that we see today. This is because the attraction of the digital world is not its realism, but its ability to create realities that are not possible in the analog world.

Technical Information:


    Code was built with Java, Processing, and Jsyn.

    Images of objects are generated by typing keywords categorized as Points, Lines, or Faces on a keyboard. The images are also con­trolled by inputting keywords categorized as controls. There are a number of reserve keywords, and each has a function when input.

    Each image has a sound sequence, and its tone coloration, volume, pitch, and sound localization is determined by the location data of the object image. The X-axis corresponds to the localization and cut-off frequency of a sound, the Y-axis corresponds to the pitch and resonance of a sound, and the Z-axis corresponds to volume. The screen is separated into seven parts from top to bottom, and the pitch of each object’s sound is scaled to each of these seven parts by changing the playback speed of the sound file. The typing sounds and the rhythm of the sound sequence are controlled by timing.

    The lifespan of an object is determined by the frequency in which its keyword is input. If the performer keeps typing without hitting a certain keyword, its object will disappear.