Image courtesy of onformativeSynaesthesia and abandonment form the basis of a new digital art installation called Collide, created by design studio onformative. To convey these sensations, the studio took recorded motion data and tranformed it into surreal animations and audio. For the visuals, they searched through archival motion data from various dance genres and turned the movements into colors and forms, abstracting them from their usual spatial constraints.
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Image courtesy of onformativeThe audio was conceived by kling klang klong, composing a piece for three cello players who used virtual reality as a tool to conduct their score. VR goggles allowed onformative to immerse the cello players in the surreal animations and visuals that had been created from the dance motion data. The cellists followed an open composition already created by kling klang kling and used the visuals to feed into it. The resulting sound was recorded, processed, and used in the final installation.
Image courtesy of onformative"By separating the visual and acoustic realities of the musicians, they were isolated in different visual worlds while playing in the same physical room," explains onformative. "Visually the musicians were separated by the format of the animations, yet they were connected by the collective sound audible in the room in that moment to create a new and innovative format for compositional performance."
Image courtesy of onformativeThe resulting piece is displayed on a 62-foot digital ribbon screen at Dolby Laboratories in San Francisco. "The innovative visual language of the piece reflects the human experience of one’s physical form moving through space," note the designers. "The visual material could be understood as the shifting of molecules on an atomic level as a person uses their body. Visualizing this tangible experience provides an introspective lens through which viewers can relate to the installation from a corporal perspective."
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