News
1-bit audio printing at the University of Applied Arts Vienna
Today, we visited the gravure printing workshop at the Institute for Graphics and Printmaking at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. The staff around Veronika Steiner and Attila Piller showed us their printing procedure and the possibilities in terms of materials, size and achievable resolution.
Obviously, one of the important limiting factors is the quality of the rasterization which is usually done with a laser printer on transparent film. This film is used to expose the polymer printing plate with ultraviolet light. The non-exposed parts of the plate are washed away, making room for the print color.
On our quest for maximum resolution of the photomaster, we also visited Josef Schauer-Schmidinger at the workshop for Digital Photography. Although they specialize in digital photography, we will have the possibility to reproduce large-scale high-resolution ink prints (160 cm width) onto 8″x10″ film with an analog Sinar camera, once their darkroom is installed in a few weeks. The target resolution should be more than 2400 dpi.
1-bit audio laser engraving
Today, we have gained new knowledge about laser engraving thanks to the great guys at Universal Laser Systems Vienna.
The laser engraving expert convinced us that a target resolution of 1000 dpi is not easily attainable due to restrictions of laser focus, positioning accuracy and, above all, material constraints.
Nevertheless, we will research further in this direction, since laser engraving allows the application of visual representations of audio on various interesting materials.
Rhyzopertha dominica feeding on digital audio
We are commencing experiments with organisms potentially feeding on digital audio carriers or circuits, therewith changing contents or functionality. Today we have observed and recorded several representatives of Rhyzopertha dominica. Usually they would feed on various cereal grains, but if those are not available, they instead digest also polymers and other technologically interesting substances. We are looking forward to having interesting sonic encounters with them.
First publication “Embracing the temporal deterioration of digital audio – A manifesto”
We are happy to announce that our paper “Embracing the temporal deterioration of digital audio – A manifesto” has been accepted for publication in the upcoming proceedings of the Politics of the Machines conference on the British Computer Society’s eWic platform.
This paper presents the fundaments and challenges of the Rotting sounds project and expresses the most important theses in the form of a manifesto.
Most of today’s media output, be it audio or video, is produced and stored in the digital domain. Although digital data are adorned by the myth of lossless transmission and migration, everyday experience does prove the existence of degradation and, ultimately, data loss in various forms. This pertains to the physical nature of storage media and playback devices as well as to media formats and software in the context of their technological infrastructure.
We have recently launched the project of artistic research ‘Rotting sounds – Embracing the temporal deterioration of digital audio’, funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). Since degradation cannot be avoided by principle, we therein propose alternative perspectives on the nature and the implications of deterioration in theory and artistic practice, specifically for the domain of digital audio.
This manifesto shall represent an introduction to our endeavour, as much as it shall form a guideline for us carrying out the research.
Residency at Eden Project
Together with Katharina Hauke, Till will be on a journey to Invisible Worlds at Eden Project in Cornwall, UK. The residency resides under the theme … and then we see if we will be friends and is meant to be an invitation to all curious organisms and life-forms in and around the Eden Project to create sounds and improvised experimental music together (with us).
Small networked music making systems will be set up within the various sites of the Eden Project that feature differing degrees of self-sufficiency and interaction possibilities for both visitors and inhabitants.
We plan to adapt and extend our semi-autonomous platform fielding to both sense and provoke actions of the various actors, inviting them to explore emergent collaborative phenomena. Of course, the (obvious) connection to rotting sounds will be investigated within the residency and related material be collected over at friendly.organisms.de.
Hope to see you there in September!
Performance at Silence London 2018
On Wednesday, 8.8.2018, I had the pleasure to perform at Silence London, a satellite event of the Silence Festival held annually in Kaukonen, Finland.
Along with classical music performances, contemporary circus, ballet and a lecture on the influence of silence on contemporary music, I performed an improvisation piece based on computational deconstruction of silences and their counterparts that I observed around Hoxton Arches.
It was divided into a 30min sound walk and a subsequent livecoding performance based on field recordings I took the day before inHoxton/Shoreditch.
More info at the Artifacter page of TAI-Studio.org.
Article in Austrian daily newspaper Der Standard, May 10
An interview by Johannes Lau with Thomas Grill on the rotting sounds project has been featured in an article of the Austrian daily newspaper Der Standard.
In Europa hat das Phänomen des Verfalls im Gegensatz zu anderen Kulturen einen grundsätzlich negativen Beigeschmack, sodass wir ständig versuchen, Dinge am Leben zu erhalten. Wir können schwer akzeptieren, dass Dinge verschwinden, obwohl wir eigentlich mit diesem ganz natürlichen Phänomen umgehen können sollten.
Exploratorium at the MDW campus
Today, we have received the keys to the old abandoned anatomy auditorium located on the campus of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (MDW). This is the last unrenovated part of the whole campus and it will function as a lab and exhibition space for experiments over the course of the whole project. Many thanks to the rector of the MDW for her friendly consent.
May 1, the project has officially started!
Today, May 1st aka “International Workers’ Day” is a national public holiday in Austria. Hence, i have launched the project with my family by hiking down the Kahlenberg and flying kites on the Danube Island.