Ian Brill’s Transmission 1 immerses the viewer in a world of visuals and sound. Formations of colored squares appear, shift, and mutate in real-time. The combinations of colors and electronic sounds elicits a surprisingly emotional experience from an unforgiving source: computer code. The four-walled light and sound installation is currently on view at 707 Penn Gallery on Penn Avenue, Downtown, until February 20th.

I am very interested in how music can be conveyed in different contexts and through different mediums. Ian was nice enough to take time from his hectic schedule to discuss the motivation and technology behind Transmission 1.

David Bernabo: The piece is extremely beautiful, allowing for different experiences with each visit. What was the inspiration behind its creation?

Ian Brill: My original goal was to create a new media equivalent of the gravitron, using spatialized sound and lights. The intention was to highlight technology’s seductive capacity and potential to immobilize us, not unlike the way a deer stares into a headlight or a moth bangs its head into a lightbulb. However, as I started working with the medium I became seduced by its potential for stirring intense emotional responses and beauty. I decided to leave the potential for the original, more terrifying experience inside of the works generative “personality”, but more of as a reference point, while the work explores other, warmer, uplifting opportunities. I felt that this manner better avoided both heavy-handedness and sappiness. Ultimately, I am very happy with the immersive, synaesthetic experience that it has become.

DB: Can you get into the nuts and bolts of the piece? Is it run from Max/MSP? How many LEDs are used? How many speakers are involved?

IB: Sure. You can read more about the details and download various bits of code from my website: http://ibrill.com/blog/?page_id=441

The visual portion of the piece is made out of cubbyhole grid cabinets that I built out of cheap plywood and faced with vellum. The insides walls of these cubes are painted with high glossy paint so that a single, low-powered, shaved, RGB LED can bounce enough light around to saturate the face and create a colored square.

This grid of 512, lit “pixels” is powered by a matrix of wires, held together by stripped ribbon cable and insulation displacement connectors (IDC’s). I used MTA connectors from Mouser.com. Cheap and reliable. This matrix is fed by daisy chains of LED drivers, connected to Arduino microcontrollers.

The data that drives the visuals is generated within a standalone Max patch. I have four original visual sources that move around the space, though I typically run post effects over these to create broader gestures/washes of color, before sending out to the microcontrollers. Each of these four sources operates based on commands it receives from algorithms I developed based on working with audio synthesizers. I then intercept these parametric data changes and send them over to Ableton Live, via UDP and custom maxforlive devices. I found it more reliable to run Jitter (the visual portion of Max/MSP) separately, as I am not convinced of Jitter’s performance at this stage of development for maxforlive, internally within the maxforlive environment. I base this off of my own experiences and public comments, openly made by either Cycling74 or Ableton staff. I forget.

The bulk of the four audio analogs are square-wave generators, paired with resonators and reverb. I then use maxforlive to talk to the live api and simulate a custom 8-speaker surround sound system. I use spatial data from Max, using the same UDP method,  to pan the four primary audio sources up, down, and across the perimeter of the space. I use sub bass to reinforce any additive, post effect changes to the original visual sources.

DB: Installation work is the probably the best way to utilize music in “visual” art. Can you talk about the role music plays in this piece? How you created it? If the samples were picked to create a certain context?

IB: I use sound in this piece to reinforce the illusion of a fictitious personality. I rely on gestalt trickery, immersion and synesthesia to attempt to break down walls of cynicism and bypass analytic filters. It is this particular creeping that should both put-off the viewer’s rational defenses but may ultimately seduce them instead. It is entirely up to the better judgement of the audience how they intend to approach this unidirectional relationship, with this particular technology.

The sounds are processed in realtime and are not sample-based. They are a total analog for generative changes to the visuals. I chose to work with the following device chain for each of the four voice sources: square wave generator, resonator, reverb. This was enough to convey the bulk, parametric changes that the audio engine receives form Max. The pairing of these devices allows the piece to partially emulate human vocals, “OMD’s” and industrial-scale sounds. These three particular qualities were essential for me to symbolically communicate the nature of the work.

DB: I think when we first met, it was during Kurt Hentschlager’s ZEE[RANGE] installation. That piece certainly engulfs the viewer/participant. Is the immersion of the viewer in the work an important aspect for you?

IB: Yes. That was me. I have assisted Kurt on various projects over last couple of years. The use of scale, intensity and countless other aspects of Kurt’s work have influenced me as an artist. ZEE is the best.

I chose to work through immersion because I feel it improves communication. I find this extremely important, especially since my original interest stems from our shared existence with technology.

DB: Are there future Transmissions in the works?

IB: Yes. I chose not to involve interactivity in this iteration because I wanted to suggest that we are no longer in control. However, I would like to further explore this and various other ideas as well.

You can view Ian Brill’s Transmission 1 at 707 Penn Gallery until February 20. Hours are Wed-Thurs 11am – 6pm, Fri-Sat 11am – 8pm, and Sun 11am – 5pm.

For more on Ian, please check out his website, which is full of information on his work: http://ibrill.com

Photo: “707 Penn” Gallery – Photo by Joey Kennedy