Ryoji Ikeda 

(*1966) is one of Japan's leading electronic composers and focuses on the minutiae of ultrasonics, frequencies and the essential characteristics of sound itself.

Ryoji Ikeda's work exploits sound's physical property, its causality with human perception and mathematical dianoia as music, time and space. Using computer and digital technology to the utmost limit, Ikeda has been developing particular "microscopic" methods for sound engineering and composition. Since 1995 he has been intensely active in sound art through concerts, installations and recordings: the albums +/- (1996), 0 degrees (1998) and Matrix (2000) have been hailed by critics as the most radical and innovative examples of contemporary electronic music.

With Carsten Nicolai, he works the collaborative project 'cyclo.', which examines error structures and repetitive loops in software and computer programmed music, with audiovisual modules for real time sound visualization. The versatile range of his research is also demonstrated by the collaborations with choreographer William Forsythe (Frankfurt Ballett), contemporary artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, architect Toyo Ito and artist collective Dumb Type, among others.

Ryoji Ikeda received the Golden Nica prize at Prix Ars Electronica 2001 in the Digital Music category.

 

Source: Ryoji Ikeda's website

 

 

Ryoji Ikeda lives and works in New York City. Sometimes harsh, sometimes remarkably gentle, Ikeda's music is concerned primarily with sound in a variety of "raw" states, such as sine tones and noise, often using frequencies at the edges of the range of human hearing. The conclusion of his album +/- features just such a tone; of it, Ikeda says "a high frequency sound is used that the listener becomes aware of only upon its disappearance" (from the CD booklet). Rhythmically, Ikeda's music is highly imaginative, exploiting beat patterns and, at times, using a variety of discrete tones and noise to create the semblance of a drum machine. His work also encroaches on the world of ambient music; many tracks on his albums are concerned with slowly evolving soundscapes, with little or no sense of pulse.

In 2004, the dormant Saarinen-designed TWA Flight Center (now Jetblue Terminal 5) at JFK Airport briefly hosted an art exhibition called Terminal 5 curated by Rachel K. Ward and featuring the work of 18 artists including Ryoji Ikeda. The show featured work, lectures and temporary installations drawing inspiration from the idea of travel — and the terminal's architecture. The show was to run from October 1 2004 to January 31, 2005 — though it closed abruptly after the building itself was vandalized during the opening party.

 

Source: Wikipedia

 

 

Ryoji Ikeda, *****, super collider

Reading

Notation. Calculation and Form in the Arts (2008) is a comprehensive catalogue (in German) edited by Dieter Appelt, Hubertus von Amelunxen and Peter Weibel which accompanied an exhibition of the same name at the Academy of the Arts, Berlin and the ZKM | Karlsruhe. (ZKM)

Grid Index (2009) by Carsten Nicolai is the first comprehensive visual lexicon of patterns and grid systems. Based upon years of research, artist and musician Carsten Nicolai has discovered and unlocked the visual code for visual systems into a systematic equation of grids and patterns. The accompanying CD contains all of the grids and patterns featured in the publication from the simplest grids made up entirely of squares to the most complex irregular ones with infinitely unpredictable patterns of growth, as editable vector graphic data files. (Gestalten)

VJ: Audio-Visual Art + VJ Culture (2006) edited by D-Fuse. A major change has taken place at dance clubs worldwide: the advent of the VJ. Once the term denoted the presenter who introduced music videos on MTV, but now it defines an artist who creates and mixes video, live and in sync to music, whether at dance clubs and raves or art galleries and festivals. This book is an in-depth look at the artists at the forefront of this dynamic audio-visual experience. (Laurence King Publishing)

 

SEE ALSO

Digital Harmony (1980): On the Complementarity of Music and Visual Art – John Whitney, Sr. wanted to create a dialog between "the voices of light and tone." All of his early experiments in film and the development of sound techniques lead toward this end. He felt that music was an integral part of the visual experience; the combination had a long history in man's primitive development and was part of the essence of life. His theories On the complementarity of Music and Visual Art were explained in his book, Digital Harmony, published by McGraw-Hill in 1980. (Paradise 2012)

Autechre: Gantz Graf (2002) received widespread attention - perhaps more so than any previous output from Autechre; in interviews, Alex Rutterford stated that it achieved cult status in underground computer-generated imagery art circles. The video features an abstract object (or an agglomeration of objects) synchronized to the sounds in the music as it morphs, pulsates, shakes, and finally dissolves. (Wikipedia)

Rubber Johnny (2005) by Chris Cunningham is six minutes and ten seconds of terror that fuses the music of Aphex Twin with his own unique visual style. The titular Johnny is a mutant kid stuck in a wheelchair who is shut in the dark by his parents and amuses himself and his pet dog by shape-shifting and raving. Chris himself plays the part of Johnny and the film itself became a kind of side project that evolved out of a 30 second promo for Aphex Twin's Druqks and took several years to complete for both the shooting and the editing. (Pixelsurgeon)

Carsten Goertz (*1981) works in interaction design, graphic design and media scenography projects. International practice as designer, lecturer and media artist in high profile design studios and institutions. Experimental and interdisciplinary orientation with strong conceptual skills and technological affinity. (Carsten Goertz)

Ohi Ho Bang Bang (1988) - The music in this video was created from the sounds being played live during filming. The film actually shows what you hear. It is a collaboration between Holger Hiller, Akiko Hada and Karl Bonnie. (Holger Hiller)