'Visual Music Practice and the Influence of Evolving Media Platforms on Aesthetics and Representation'. (INVITE FOR INTERVIEW)

[Caoimhin Watts]

Hello VMV users.

My name is Caoimhín Watts, a final year student at Glasgow School of Art. I am currently studying a masters degree in animation, and I have studied Art & Design and Graphic Design previously. I am trying to gather information/research for my dissertation and final practical work. The title of my written piece is, 'Visual Music Practice and the Influence of Evolving Media Platforms on Aesthetics and Representation'.

I am currently contacting a number of people/companies who I believe could give informed responses  in a short interview regarding the above topic, and I was hoping that some of the people on Visual Music Village may be able to spare half an hour of their time. I would be very grateful and interested to hear your views on the subject, having seen some of your work.

If you are willing to speak with me I would, of course, send a copy of any questions I will ask during interview in advance. Any answers/information you provide would be used for my dissertation and to inform my practical work, and for no other purpose. Also, I would be happy to send you a copy of my completed work, both written and practical, once completed. I would really appreciate it if I could organise a short interview over Skype with some of you in the next few weeks, if this would be convenient.

If you prefer to answer my questions in written form, that's totally fine too. Any input is very welcome! Written responses can be sent to     [e-mail]

 

Thanks very much for your time

Caoimhín Watts

 

Questions...

1             Sound and song bring to every person an individual experience, an 'inner perception' and                deeply personal sensation. With this in mind, how effective is a standardised methodology                for  colour scaling and structured representation of form within the context of visual music                creation?

2             Colour                                 Movement/Tempo                        Form

               How important/dominant are each of these in terms of their use in the visual representation                of music/sound?

3             Do you think we have a good enough understanding of the psychology and physical                mechanisms of sight and of individual emotional reaction, to enable us to create an                informed visual response to the aural?

4             To what extent do you think contemporary visual music practice is embraced by the                gallery system - and is its acceptance (or lack of) comparable to that of earlier works and                styles by the likes of Mary Ellen Bute or Oskar Fischinger, for example?

5             What affect does viewing environment and context have on viewer perception of abstract                visual music? (e.g. Animated footage in a gallery space/on a personal computer                screen/viewed   before a film at the cinema/in a 'live' VJ context etc.)

6             Can abstract animation - without characters, subjects or objective realism, express any                narrative within a musical score? (example - Beethoven's 'Pastoral')

7             Creative time-based tools which work  within 3D space, controllable particle systems                (such as 'Trapcode Form' and 'Plexus') and programmed manipulation of form and                movement over time are part of the contemporary visual music practitioner's toolkit. How                has this influenced the progression of style, aesthetics and representation within  the                field of visual music creation?

8             Dance is an instantly controllable visualisation of music. Do the process-based tools and                methods employed in visual music creation afford a true, absolute, organic and harmonious                representation of music? Does 'process' stifle or aid the creation of true representation?

               (The above question does not take into account audio reactors/digitally synthesized (instant)                visual music forms.)

9             Can exact, mathematically produced visual representations capture the essence of a piece of                music?

10           Are stereoscopic visuals more representative of stereo sound than conventional screen                based visuals? Why?

11           Can you tell me about your own practice and some of your ideologies concerning the                creation of visuals as a representation of music.

 

THANKS AGAIN!

([e-mail])