Summer

Using sensors to measure the fluctuations in electrical conductivity from botanical specimens yields audible rhythmic and melodic information when processed through a digital audio workstation.

This biodata now becomes data sonification, as it is amplified through a low-frequency vibration generator beneath paper, imbuing fine raw pigments into a state of perceived automatism upon the paper. The emergent patterns are goverened by a naturally occuring phenomenon known as cymatics - the occurence of 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 - where nodal and antinodal patterns are shaped by resonance and vibration.

The autonomous mark making of pigments and crossover patterns reveal an abstract impressionistic landscape; a nod to the source itself.

In processing the sonification present in botanicals, and using that biodata to autonomously "paint" resonant patterns, we can view this work as a generative instance. Furthermore, the "randomness" of the rhythmic pattern that resonates onto the paper is "chance determined" by the health and chemistry of the plant as well as other environmental and geographic factors (temperature, time of day): these parameters essentially dictate the form that emerges.

To set the image, for hours my kabuki brush swirls the emergent patterns of pigment into the paper, rendering a gaussian blur as each colour graduates into the other. I enjoy the physicality and meditative surrender as I trace the made marks into lush gradients with my brush, with full trust in the guidance from its source. I view the work as an intimate collaboration between nature, its hidden intrinsic energetic code, and myself.

The work is a testament to my ongoing dedication to "nature as muse".

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dry pigment on Hahnemühle etching paper, 80cm x 107cm (31.5" x 42")

high resolution digital photograph 3112px x 4644px