A quick jump into an unexpected invitation for the Open Codes exhibition at ZKM in Karlsruhe.
Been there for a couple of days during a 25-hours-long hackathon to work on some really interesting ideas.
https://musictechfest.net/zkm
A huge pleasure to collaborate with Muarts team and incredibly inspiring artist Johanna Tano on something that is still growing: Syncronica Cosmobiology. SC (not the final name of the opera) is a project based on eeg devices to analyze real-time brainwaves’ state, being able to influence the audio/visual installation, based on a graphic interpretation of the planets within the solar system.
SYNCHRONICA
JOHANNA TANO (SE), ANDREA CERRATO (IT), MUARTS (PT – FRANCISCO MARQUES-TEIXEIRA, HORÁCIO TOMÉ-MARQUES AND LUIS ANJOS), RE CVETANA (BG), LUBNA DAJANI (NY), SONJA DURAJLIJA ZINIC (HR), PANOS APOSTOLAKIS (GR), MIKE VON PAUL (TX)
Far more than merely gazing at the starry heavens, Synchronica set out to plug audiences’ brains directly into a space data simulator of planetary orbits and consciously affect the orbital patterns. The feedback loop went beyond a ‘second skin of data’ (intended as either a protective coat of armour or a stimulating layer of continuous input) to focus instead on the deliberate action and brain training output challenging us to leap beyond the close and the personal, abandon navel gazing, and train ourselves to interact at a grand scale with planetary forces.
The first iteration of the simulator built by Johanna Tano with the Synchronica group at MTF Stockholm in September 2018 using NASA data and based on Kelly Snook’s work on Kepler’s ‘Music of the Planets’ had already scooped the KTH Innovation MTF Grand Prize. For ZKM, the data choreography was amplified to create complex visual harmonies with generative frequencies produced by intentional brain activity of the participants. Complex generative music harmonies created during the labs by Andrea Cerrato with different parameters for each planet enabled the participants to tune in and orientate themselves across interplanetary distances while producing a symphony of visual and audible frequencies. MuArts’ craft of training participants’ brains based on clinical trials meant that every audience participant - from the youngest, aged 3, to the oldest, in their 70s - was able to use the strength of their brain’s focus, their intention and their response, to create their own brain signature of human-planetary frequencies.
I've worked on the audio component of the project, sonifying real-time data from the eeg devices and visuals as well.
The geometric patterns evolve and the sounds follow your mind to create a digital ecosystem where you become an active element of interaction.
I’m really happy and proud for the results obtained in a 25-hours coding marathon, showed during the last day of the expo in the museum. Need to go further with more development, but first results are really encouraging_
Meet new people, create new teams and collaborations, open minds and learn something new. Always_
Thanks to #MTFLabs for the invitation. Always a big pleasure to be part of this awesome tech family_