Music & Art Version 2.0

• Source: Global Times
• [20:55 July 13 2009]
• Comments

Playing Piano “by eye” with Adaptive Musical Instruments.

By Wu Ziru

“Could you imagine playing music if you didn’t have arms?” asks Byeong Sam Jeon, internationally recognized artist and joint curator from South Korea.

“Watch this,” he teases. He is staring at a small screen, on which are images of multi-colored music notes.

He looks intently at them, moving his eyes from one scale to the next, and as he does so a melody is played out through the speakers; the timber of a crisp, perfectly pitched violin.

“That’s how it works. You can play with your eyes, and even your face,” explains Byeong.

“Different facial expressions correspond with different tones, so you can actually play a melody with a smile.”

This amazing state of the art computerized musical instrument is among one of the many exhibits that can be found at this international new media exhibition entitled This Ability, at the Art Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

Byeong, along with Chinese art critic and joint-curator Wang Chunchen, will be overseeing 21 interactive electronic artworks; each providing viewers an original multimedia experience and a chance to witness the creative magic that happens when art and science meet.

“New media may not be seen in the same light as traditional art forms, but there is a growing number of artists turning to it in recent years – and more are likely to join their ranks as advanced technologies and new programs become available,” said Wang.

One of the most interesting presentations at the museum, Adaptive Musical Instruments, was created by a small international team of artists; Pauline Oliveros, Leaf Miller, Zevin Polzin from the US and Zane Van Dusen from the Netherlands.

Substituting guitars and keyboards with cameras and video screens, almost all members of the creative team are not only musicians but also highly skilled computer technicians. In combining their two talents they have created a computer program that brings their acoustic dreams to digital life.