Music Mosaic

"Do While" by Oval:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvW6qiTkZdw

The art I’ve created is based on a piece called “Do While,” by electronic music group Oval. My selection is not what you might expect from a typical instrumental track, however. It is from an obscure musical genre known as “glitch music,” where damaged and fragmented CD’s are played to create a unique timbre that is hard to replicate. I chose to create art that has a similar feel to what I experience when I hear this track: unfamiliarity and rhythmic looping.

It’s really hard to describe what “Do While” sounds like, so I did the best I could to show it. Throughout most of the 24-minute piece there are these really glassy, high pitched noises that alternate between the right and left speakers. I felt these noises could best be represented with glass itself, so I shot each of my photos through different pieces of glass: some wet, some tinted, and some frosty. I would then shine different kinds of lights in each one, which would make interesting reflections (and some that would become warped, depending on the type of glass). To me, these give the photos an otherworldly and unique feel, which can be also felt in the track - the distorted sounds throughout the piece sound foreign, not at all like typical instruments. The tones in it constantly loop again and again, creating a kind of hypnotic rhythm. In most of my photos, there is some kind of repeating element - the multiple reflections of a light, several rain droplets in a line, etc. These repetitions are not consistent, but in a way this is how the music is as well: some of the melodic phrases that repeat every few seconds are sometimes modulated. Overall, however, my photos are more about conveying the feel of Oval’s piece, rather than creating direct correlations.

Obviously my art here is very abstract, and its relationship to the music is more apparent to me, the creator, than it is to anyone else. But it would have been hard for me to have done them in any other way—when I listen to “Do While,” I don’t tend to visualize real people or places. Rather, I see lights and shapes, and internally focus on the glassy pseudo-percussion throughout. Much like how Annie Dillard notices different aspects of nature that stand out to her, I have my own perception of the art I consume.

I’m not the first to use abstract images or materials to accompany music, however. Kristian Pedersen, an animator from Norway, created an award-winning short called “The Boyg,” which uses different shapes to resemble a moving serpent, something Pedersen would visualize whenever he listened to an instrumental track which accompanies the piece. This is a perfect example of how different artists can make their own interpretations of other artistic mediums in new and interesting ways. Mine is not super refined by any means, but being able to attempt to represent a piece of music was well worth the time and effort.

“The Boyg,” another example of capturing music with abstract art: https://vimeo.com/169233269