the voice of the trees

source: gadaboutjp

There is something for everyone at MOT’s Art & Music—Search for New Synesthesia whether you’re into art, music or rare records (available in ice and wood). With no other than the most celebrated Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto himself as an advisor on board, the exhibition is a retrospective look at interplay of two increasingly interconnected art forms. Given the perspective, from the expressive Kandinsky’s vision of music to the technologically advanced sound-image works of Ryoji Ikeda, it becomes even more apparent that the boundaries between art and music have rapidly become harder and harder to define.
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source: traubeck

A record player that plays slices of wood. Year ring data is translated into music, 2011. Modified turntable, computer, vvvv, camera, acrylic glass, veneer, approx. 90x50x50 cm.

A tree’s year rings are analysed for their strength, thickness and rate of growth. This data serves as basis for a generative process that outputs piano music. It is mapped to a scale which is again defined by the overall appearance of the wood (ranging from dark to light and from strong texture to light texture). The foundation for the music is certainly found in the defined ruleset of programming and hardware setup, but the data acquired from every tree interprets this ruleset very differently.