Cyclical Motion: Ten Truisms
by Dan Senn
.
Visable
and invisible motion merge along a continuum at about 20 cps.
Subaudible
vibrations may be experienced as periodic and rhythmic motion,
like a leaf oscillating in the wind.
Audible
vibrations are an "invisible" form of periodic motion
and are experienced
as sound.
Both
subaudible and audible sound may be experienced through the sense
of
touch or feeling--hearing may be considered a tactile sense.
Subaudible
(cyclical) motion can be used as a symmetric (recursive, repetitive)
visual element in a work of sculpture.
Subaudible
motion can be used to strike resonant objects, to push and pull
materials (monofilament, air columns), and to energize second
and third levels
of conditional complexity (contingencies).
Subaudible
motion, live or stored, can be used to create time-based sound
(musical) compositions.
Just
as subaudible (cyclical) motion can be used in a kinetic sculpture
without
intended sonic effect, invisible audible motion (also cyclical)
can be used without
intended visual effect.
Subaudible
motion can used as a linear and organized kinetic element in a
sculpture while redundantly producing sonic artifacts of equivalent
complexity.
The
symbiotic ideal...
Subaudible motion can be used as a beautiful kinetic element within a sculptural
work while producing musical compositions of equivalent beauty. In this balanced
state, the kinetic aspects should stand alone without assistance from the sound, and
the sounding aspects should stand alone without assistance from the visible motion.
This is the point where a powerful paradox emerges. As the information flow increases,
the perceived complexity decreases as the visual elements "explain" and illuminate
the aural, and the aural "explain" and amplify the visual.
...
in this way, symbiosis is achieved between sight and sound.
©Dan
Senn 2007
From Portland Art Center lecture, 1/25/07.