Critical Theory 389

Colours and their Properties

signy — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 00:49:41 +0000

	Black is formal, conventional, and dignified. In ancient Egypt, it symbolised night, death, and magic; it was the opposite of green, the colour of life.
	White is precise, critical, and sincere. In Egypt, it symbolised purity, femininity, and the Moon, contrasting with the masculine red.
	Red is active, daring, passionate, and optimistic. It enhances alertness and encourages activity. Goethe held red to be the most intense colour, the furthest from both black and white, and it is noteworthy that those languages which only have words for three basic colours always select black, white, and red. In Egypt, red symbolised masculinity, life, and warmth, but also danger. It was the opposite of the feminine white: this can be seen in Egyptian art, where the women are white and the men brown (which was considered a shade of red). Pink is milder and more affectionate than red, feminine rather than masculine; it is good for comfort and healing.
	Orange is more ambitious and self-sufficient than red, and lacks its warmth; it has the intelligence of yellow without its loftiness. It is used therapeutically to bring joy and heal grief.
	Yellow is intellectual and communicative. It is used to produce detachment and reduce depression. Goethe observed that yellow was the most positive of colours, the opposite of blue, and the closest to pure light. In Egypt, it symbolised the Sun.
	Green is healing, sympathetic, steadfast, and restrained. In the environment, it reduces stress and movement. Goethe observed that green is soothing because it balances the positive yellow and the negative blue. In Egypt, green symbolised life, growth, and rebirth; it was opposed to black, the colour of death.
	Cyan (or turquoise) combines the effects of green and blue. It is charming but self-absorbed; it enhances self-confidence, calms and refreshes.
	Blue is idealistic, rational, honest, and tranquil. Goethe observed blue to be the most negative colour, the closest colour to black. Many languages do not distinguish between blue and green: in Egypt, light blue was considered green and dark blue, black. Light blue is more spiritual, dark blue more sociable.
	Purple (or violet) is grand, idealistic, and sensitive, but may lack self-criticism and maturity. Goethe considered this to be a disturbing colour, balanced uncertainly between the positive red and the negative blue. In most languages, violet is called blue: “roses are red, violets are blue”. Lavender is lighter and more feminine, conveying dignity and encouraging reflection.
	Magenta (or crimson) is less aggressive and more spiritual than red, more practical than purple. It is optimistic, volatile, and affectionate, producing feelings of contentment and self-respect.
	Brown is the warm neutral colour; many languages identify it with red. It is practical, earthy, obstinate, and conscientious.
	Grey is the cold neutral colour; many languages identify it with blue or green. It is calming, but may convey uncertainty and lack of commitment; silver is nobler and more spiritual.

Those information are taken from about.com, have a look at their theory of colors!

JamesClar.com “Dynomite”

signy — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 07:47:54 +0000

This is a very tacky version of the product that we want to make. We want to have a microphone as interaction and use different lights that turn on and display different forms. The sound input tunes into colors and forms.

Sounds like Light, Lights like Sound – documentation

signy — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 07:38:00 +0000

Philips interactive lights 01

signy — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 07:18:34 +0000

Wish You Were Here – Interactive sound installation

signy — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 14:01:48 +0000

Wish You Were Here
collaborative sound installation
Colin Asquith, Terry Nauheim, Jennifer Schmidt

A site for interactivity and reception, “Wish You Were Here” is a collective soundscape of audio greeting cards meant to be experienced within the hands of participants through physical and aural sampling. Our sounds are of field recordings, fragmented and manipulated to reinterpret the conventional notion of a sentiment in the model of a greeting card. Recontextualizing recorded material within this format places limits–including time, compression, and availability–while initiating an accessible, portable, and participatory narrative.

Systems of exchange become evident through the selective re-authoring and re-playing of these sounds, quoting a theoretical giver and receiver. Through the opening and closing of cards on display, the gesture of a greeting becomes amplified, defining a space that is, at once, personal and public, intuitive and mechanical.

Growth Interactive Audio Visual Installation

signy — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 13:58:21 +0000

SoniColumn interactive sound installation

signy — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 13:56:31 +0000

The SoniColumn — an interactive sound installation that’s one part sci-fi and one part Victoriana– is the latest work from multimedia artist Jin-You Mok. Part of his MusicBox Project, the piece, as you can no doubt guess, consists of elements designed to mimic a music box in one form or another. The SoniColumn itself works through an array of touch-sensitive LEDs that each emit a unique tone when touched — the budding musician can then turn a crank to rotate the column and play back his/her composition in its entirety. If you want let loose your inner Thomas Dolby, you can currently check out the SoniColumn at Bitforms gallery in Seoul, South Korea, or catch it’s next appearance at Wired’s NextFest in NYC come October.

Interactive Singing Sculpture: on location in Second Life

signy — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 13:55:09 +0000

Orbiter / interactive sound environment

signy — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 13:53:15 +0000

Sound Installation

signy — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 13:09:38 +0000

Sound installation (related to sound art and sound sculpture) is an intermedia and time based artform. It is an expansion of an art installation in the sense that it includes the sound element and therefore the time element. The main difference with a sound sculpture is that a sound installation has a three dimensional space and that the axes with which the different sound objects are being organized are not exclusively internal to the work, but also external. A work of art is an installation only if it makes a dialog with the surrounding space. A sound installation is usually a site-specific but some times it can be re adapted to other spaces. It can be made either in close or open spaces, and context is fundamental to determine how a sound installation will be aesthetically perceived. The difference between a regular art installation and a sound installation is that the later one has the time element, which gives the visiting public the possibility to stay a longer time due possible curiosity over the development of sound. This temporal factor also gives the audience the excuse to explore the space throughly due to the dispositions of the different sounds in space. Sound installations some times use interactive art technology (computers, sensors, mechanical and kinetic devices, etc) but we also find this type of art form using only sound sources placed in different space points (like speakers), or acoustic music instruments materials like piano strings that are played by a performer or by the public (see Paul Panhuysen).