Brilliant Noise

(2006)

by Semiconductor takes us into the data vaults of solar astronomy. The sound is derived from solar natural radio and controlled via digitally sampling the intensity of the brightness of the image.

After sifting through hundreds of thousands of computer files, made accessible via open access archives, Semiconductor have brought together some of the sun's finest unseen moments. These images have been kept in their most raw form, revealing the energetic particles and solar wind as a rain of white noise. This grainy black and white quality is routinely cleaned up by NASA, hiding the processes and mechanics in action behind the capturing procedure. Most of the imagery has been collected as single snapshots containing additional information, by satellites orbiting the Earth. They are then reorganised into their spectral groups to create time-lapse sequences. The soundtrack highlights the hidden forces at play upon the solar surface, by directly translating areas of intensity within the image brightness into layers of audio manipulation and radio frequencies.

Awarded second prize by the Science Film Festival, a Coruna Spain. 2008.

Awarded second prize at Onion City Experimental Film and Video Festival 2006.

Awarded Best Video at Experimental Film and Video Festival, Seoul, Korea 2006.

Thanks to the following solar observatories whose data archives were used in the making of this film: Mount Wilson Observatory UCLA, Lasco/SOHO Naval Research Laboratory, TRACE/LMSAL, Big Bear Solar Observatory/NJIT, SST/Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Gong/National Solar Observatory/AURA/NSF Thanks also to: Steven Christie, Iain Hannah, the CSE team and all at the space sciences Lab. UC Berkeley.

The sound is derived from solar natural radio and controlled via digitally sampling the intensity of the brightness of the image. The sound is intrinsically born from the image, creating a symphony by the Sun.

Semiconductor have developed Brilliant Noise as a multi-stranded project. It exists as a single work and also as a multi-screen installation. It has been installed as a 10 screen 16 audio channel work, and as a three screen surround sound installation.

It is the feature of Semiconductor's DVD release with Fat Cat Records, Worlds in Flux, in the form of a soundtrack project. Semiconductor invited sound artists and musicians to create alternate soundtracks to the film resulting in eleven new or remixed works by:

Antenna Farm, Disinformation, Thomas Dimuzio, Ensemble, Gæoudjiparl, Robert Hampson, Iris Garrelfs, Our Brother The Native, Max Richter, The Twilight Sad, Cristian VogelIt also exists as a live performance whereby the brightness of the image is sampled in real-time to control live audio.

Brilliant Noise has also been performed as a single / multi screen and HD work with live soundtrack.

Source: Semiconductor

Brilliant Noise, astronomy, sun, Installation

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VJing (2010) is a reproduction of the Wikipedia article VJing, based upon the revision of July 25th 2010 and was produced as a physical outcome of the wiki-sprint, a collaborative writing workshop that was held 2010 in the frame of Mapping Festival, Geneva. (Greyscale Press)

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Semiconductor make moving image works which reveal our physical world in flux; cities in motion, shifting landscapes and systems in chaos. Since 1999 UK artists Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt have worked with digital animation to transcend the constraints of time, scale and natural forces; they explore the world beyond human experience, questioning our very existence. (FatCat Records)

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. His 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, Ryoji Ikeda has been developing particular microscopic methods for sound engineering and composition. (Ryoji Ikeda)

formula (2000), a constantly evolving work updated with each presentation, is a perfect synchronization between Ryoji Ikeda's sound frequencies and the movements on the screen. It places the viewer in a binary geometry of space, and exploits the darkness to amplify the perceptions, with outstanding success. (Ryoji Ikeda)

APB - All Points Between (2001) was a live audio visual performance by The Light Surgeons. An feature length performance which skipped around the world through a series of capsule narratives and audio visual tracks. It combined and remixed original documentary material (including the short films Thumbnail Express and The City of Hollow Mountains) wth DJing and a multi screen presentation involving video, slides and 16mm projections. (The Light Surgeons)

005 (2008) is an art film and personal project by Maxim Zhestkov. Sound by Yurii Zolotukhin/ Y.Z and Kammerton. (Maxim Zhestkov)

Bonn Patternization (2009) - original title: Bonner Durchmusterung is a sonification and visualisation of astrophysical phenomena by Marcus Schmickler (composition), Alberto de Campo (sonification) and Carsten Goertz (visualisation). The eponymous starting point of our project is the Bonn patternization drawn up by the astronomer Friedrich Argelander (1799–1875) and his co-workers. This is not only the most historic work ever to have been conducted in Bonn; it also includes every star that can be seen in the night sky with the naked eye or a small telescope. The locations of the stars alter so little that today's night sky can still by-and-large be described by the data of the Bonn patternization. (Dr. Michael Geffert, Marcus Schmickler, Alberto de Campo, Carsten Goertz in May 2009)

Winterreise – Songs & Places (2010) is an exploration of Franz Schubert’s iconic song cycle where different spaces intersect in order to create a new and interesting performance. Real-time visuals generated with video games, surround music based on urban field recordings and Schubert’s Winterreise lyrical part were combined. Winterreise – Songs & Places is a collaboration between Victor Morales (visuals), Ulrike Sowodniok (voice and performance) and Hannes Strobl (Music). (Winterreise – Songs & Places)

NAS (2010) by Turkish drummer, producer and visual artist Volkan Ergen. (Vimeo)

Visual Music Archive

Brilliant Noise

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