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Nothing:
a multimedia screaMachine performance
As set up and performed at Moving Image Gallery
NYC May 2000
Duration: 15 minutes
In
Nothing, mathematical studies into the nature of the universe
(such as chaos theory, entropy and emergent systems studies
etc.) are the source material used to put together a representation
of a ‘creation theory’. Like a computer program,
its genesis lies in the construction of simple structures
which, when combined, produce extraordinary complexity.
Using elements from ‘Big Bang’ theory variations,
including the assumption that a void can develop unevenness
resulting in fluctuation (an opportunity for God theorists
to interject "the hand of God at play"), this
piece puts forward the notion that the universe is a simple
fluctuation in a void. The sequence of ‘something’
developing out of nothing only to fade back into nothingness
again — is represented (in the video projections)
by a quiver in an otherwise flat timeline. Using a variety
of technologies and mechanisms, Nothing concentrates on
this sequence, exploring fluctuations within the fluctuation
and relating them directly to the universe as we experience
it.
Nothing
consists of a performer standing behind a stack of electronic
audio equipment that produces and modulates the audio
program. At his feet is a smoke machine flanked by two
slide projectors, pointed at the ceiling. Each slide projector
has a mechanically rotating prism mounted in the path
of its beam causing the beam to split and move about the
room in looping patterns. Two similar devices are located
on either side of the audio stack, their beams crossing
each other as they point at opposite walls and another
shoots straight out towards the audience. They project
the word ‘NOTHING. Each mechanism and prism is different
resulting in five variations of diffraction and motion.
The beams traverse the ‘smoke’-filled room like
a lighthouse beam in fog. The word ‘NOTHING’
separates into multiple moving miniatures which in turn
split and move away to infinity, only to be sucked back
in and recombined, paralleling the fluctuation in the
void that is the central theme of the piece. Two video
projectors each project the same video program, one onto
the floor directly in front of the audio stack and one
on to a sidewall. In front of the performer, atop the
audio stack is a Theremin which the performer ‘plays’,
using it as an interface to modulate the path of digital
audio feeds through the audio stack, somewhat similar
to a DJ mixing records. A Theremin is a very early synthesizer,
which, instead of having a keyboard, has two antennae,
one vertical to modulate frequency, and one horizontal
to modulate amplitude. It is played by moving one’s
hands in the air around the antennae. The closer one’s
hand gets to the vertical antenna, the higher the note.
The volume is controlled similarly with the other hand
and the horizontal antenna. During the first half of the
performance synthetic smoke is sporadically released into
the active space in front of the performer. It rises and
diffuses, highlighting the moving beams from the slide
projectors and the static, though dynamic, color beams
of the video projectors. The smoke is fully diffused by
the performance’s end.
Nothing
starts with video projections of a simple white line on
a black field, a graphic timeline. A distortion gradually
emerges in the line to become an amorphous shape that
fluctuates in and out of existence. Over time, more fluctuations
appear and interact to produce constant fluctuation. This
fluctuation grows more and more complex, eventually encompassing
images of nebulae and planetary systems, etc. At its most
detailed, images from the personal life and experiences
of the artist come to the fore. The projected area is
filled with images that obviously continue beyond the
frame, reflecting the impossibility of displaying or viewing
"everything" at such a level of detail, in stark
contrast to the neatly confined forms and images at the
beginning. All images and details are soon engulfed in
fractal forms, which fluctuate and diminish back to the
static white line on the black field.
The
audio track, being mixed live by the performer, follows
a similar dynamic to the video in that it starts with
simple waveforms and gradually becomes more complex. Slow
sweeping analog synthesizer sounds (such as those produced
in the early years of the synthesizer) gradually evolve
into a fast paced, highly rhythmic ‘Jungle/Drum‘n’Bass’
dance beat with state of the art digital sound generation
and digital sample sequencing. It features sampled spoken
words (the voice of John Barrymore in the 1931 black and
white movie ‘Svengali’). Phrases including "There
is nothing in your mind", "There is nothing
in your soul" and "There is nothing in your
heart", first arise as the level of complexity in
the video reaches the point where recognizable objects,
such as stars and planetary systems, appear. As this interaction
continues, the sampled phrase "I do love you"
is heard, triggering the barrage of images generated from
‘home movies’ that feature the artist and members
of his family. Using the gestural interface (the Theremin),
the performer continually ‘mixes’ the audio
elements.
Nothing
intermingles elements of space, time, action, antiquated
and state-of-the-art technologies, and ephemerality into
an experiential, finite whole. The basic elements used
to construct this piece are waveforms, produced in a variety
of ways, including animated graphic representations of
waveforms, audio waveforms, synthesized with digital equipment
or gleaned from the interference patterns of oscillating
electronic circuits, and light waveforms produced by digital
synthesis and mechanical means. The intention was to create
a spectrum of waveforms ranging from analog to digital,
to follow ‘time’s arrow’, to add linear
qualities into what is essentially a looping continuum.
Like many chaotic systems and systems displaying emergent
properties, the structure (of the performance) results
from the combination of these waveforms which, when overlaid,
produce rhythm and pattern of a far more complex and subtle
nature than their contributing elements. Bifurcations,
such as appear in chaotic systems, are used to link or
separate ideas. Meanings emerge from the juxtaposition
of seemingly unrelated parts. Deliberate random elements
give momentum to the creation of structure. The time-based,
and content-oriented, structure is fixed in the projected
video, like a graph of a chaotic system covering a finite
time period. Each mechanical looping of diffracted textual
images produced by the various slide projector/rotating
prism devices has its own structure and form which, in
combination with the others, produce a fluctuating second
structure that competes with the fixed structure of the
video projections. The third and most dynamic structure,
is generated by the live interaction between performer
and audio track. The overall structure, produced by the
interaction of the above three, continuously loops in
on itself due to the performer reacting to the structure
of the present, making changes, which create the next
‘present’ and therefore the next stimulus for
the performer to react to. It is a delicate balance of
multiple parameter feeds that the performer juggles while
trying to keep the ‘gestalt’ of the piece in
line with the fixed timelines and pattern of both the
video projections and the digital audio feeds that he
is manipulating live.
A
mixture of simple low-tech and complex state-of-the-art
technologies is used. The Theremin is an example of an
early electronic sound generator (simple oscillators form
interference patterns to produce waveforms), yet it is
being used to control the flow of complex digital soundforms
produced with the latest fractal sound design software.
Equally, the slide projectors, simple light sources casting
shadows from miniature images with mechanized prisms splitting
the beams, are in stark contrast to the high-tech video
projections containing animated motion graphics which
track the spoken word audio samples with the words in
text form. The smoke machine produces physical synthesized
smoke clouds which are examples of complex natural chaotic
systems, through which all the projections, both video
and mechanized slide, pass. Elements of the smoke clouds
are thus add into the projected images while the colors
and vital motions of the projections are picked up in
the body of the clouds. As the performance progresses,
the physical clouds diffuse and are replaced by digitally
generated fractal clouds (fractal mathematics is derived
from mathematical descriptions of chaotic systems). The
physical is replaced by the virtual; both are ephemeral,
time-based, complex and beautiful; the metamorphosis from
one to the other provides another example of linear progression.
‘Time’s arrow’ — the necessary linear
direction for the passing of time to uphold entropy equations
and a factor in the dismissal of time reversal theories
about the eventual collapse of the universe — is
reflected in many elements of the performance as it offers
up its own theory of eventual ‘fade’ to nothingness.
In deference to ‘time’s arrow’, Nothing
suggests a continuous progression towards nothingness
and not a reversal of all that led to the peak of physicality.
The physical nature of the piece itself diminishes with
the dissipation of the smoke and the fading of the projector
beams as they are switched off.
After
viewing this performance, a number of audience members
independently commented that the performer "looked
like God creating the universe". With the performer
in the center of his synthetic environment, controlling
and sustaining it, it is, of course, natural and fitting
to read the performer as God (as any artist is God of
the landscape/environment they create). What makes that
reading all the more interesting is that this ‘God’
has created a universe/product that celebrates godlessness.
As such, the piece is a mystical experience that defies
mysticism. The motions of the performer — due to
their interactive nature and the stimulus-response interaction
between video content and performer, and also due to the
not-touching-anything-but-air nature of the Theremin interface
— conjure up images of druids or witches reciting
spells over boiling cauldrons (especially as the ‘smoke’
rises through the projector beams surrounding the performer)
or, indeed, many classic images of God creating the world.
The performer seems to pull the sounds and images out
of the ‘ether’. He is animated in concert with
his technological cauldron and the resultant expanding
and contracting ephemeral environment. It is appropriate
that a ‘totality’ decipherable on mystical terms
should emerge out of the combination of non-mystical elements;
this is central to the notion put forth (by Nothing) that
the mystical nature of the real universe is accidental
and imposed on it by the thought processes of mankind.
The idea of preaching or demonstrating a doctrine, as
performed by most religions through ritual, is paralleled
by Nothing and heightened by the use of the voice of the
classic mesmerist Svengali. The sampled phrases, hypnotic
and repetitive, fixed on delivering the message about
the lack of sentient causation in our perceived world,
are like ritual phrases reiterated by church goers and
other ritual participants, but unlike these, they do not
serve to uphold the beliefs of God doctrines, rather they
undermine all including themselves. Similarly the title
- Nothing – and the projections of the word ‘NOTHING’
highlight the essential paradox of the piece, they have
substance and meaning while denying both.
The
motivation for Nothing is directly linked to the paradox
existent in myself that recognizes humanity as a very
minor cog in the mechanism of this universe on a macro
level, views the human race as a viral infestation on
a planetary level and an absurd, complex, unjust mechanism
on a micro (human) level, while at the same time reveling
in humanity and enjoying the advances of technological
progression and human society, hence the "I do love
you" phrase that introduces the human level imagery
in the video projections
Linear
elements:
timeline
finite timed performance
synthesized fog - projected fractal clouds
Theremin (antiquated) - 60s synths (old fashioned) - digital
samples (current)
slow - fast
simple - complex
contained - beyond the frame
mechanical - computerized
physical - virtual
static - motion
looping
elements:
all waveform elements are looped with differing frequencies
of pattern and repetition, some more subtle than others
video loops
looping filter effects (both audio and video)
mechanical loops
gestural loops
musical loops (rhythm and melody)
looping edit points (cut to audio rhythms)
repetition of sculptural/spatial elements
interactivity (video - performer - audio)
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