Emotional Machines - Composing for Unstable Media.

Thorolf Thuestad

Emotional machines – composing for unstable media. Thorolf Thuestad In partial fulfilment of PhD in artistic research The Grieg Academy, Department of Music, Faculty of Art, Music, and Design, University of Bergen, 2021 The artistic research project Emotional machines - composing for unstable media explores how non-representational kinetic objects may afford affective and emotional responses, in particular experiences of kinship and relation between an audience and animated objects. Further possibilities for artistic expression are opened through composition and dramaturgy, in works where the animated objects perform alongside human performers and other media, such as light and sound. How may such animated non-representational physical objects be developed? How does animating the physical objects change the potential for experience of kinship and relation between audience and object? How does context modulate the potential for experience of kinship and relation between audience and animated physical object? How does the potential experience of kinship with the animated object differ for the creator of the object, and audience? These questions have been investigated through the creation of a set of animated kinetic figures. These figures have performed in a series of artistic presentations such as gallery exhibitions and stage presentations. The artistic research concludes with two complementary public artistic presentations taking place in bergen in June/July 2021; a time-based stage production at Cornerteatret and a gallery exhibition at Lydgalleriet. The presentations are considered connected and have the common title For one – for many – for all. This is an exposition of the research that presents the kinetic figures, the process of developing them, the questions they have contributed to explore, resulting artistic works (with particular emphasis on the final artistic presentations taking place in June/July 2021), the additional artists contributing to these public presentations, and a series of reflections resulting from the research. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Emotional machines – composing for unstable media Thorolf Thuestad. Denne eksposisjonen presenteres som del av gjennomføring av doktorgrad i kunstnerisk utviklingsarbeid ved Griegakademiet, Institutt for musikk, Fakultet for kunst, musikk og design, Universitetet i Bergen, 2021. Emotional machines - composing for unstable media utforsker hvordan ikke-representative kinetiske objekter kan skape affektive og emosjonelle responser hos mennesker. Spesifikt opplevelse av slektskap og relasjon mellom et publikum og animerte objekter. Det åpnes ytterligere muligheter for kunstneriske uttrykk gjennom komposisjon og dramaturgi i verk der de animerte objektene opptrer sammen med menneskelige utøvere og andre medier, som lys og lyd. Hvordan kan animerte ikke-representative fysiske objekter utvikles med dette startpunktet som inspirasjon? Hvordan endrer animasjon av de fysiske objektene potensialet for opplevelse av slektskap og relasjon mellom publikum og objekt? Hvordan modulerer konteksten de animerte objektene presenteres i potensialet for opplevelse av slektskap og relasjon? Hvordan er den potensielle opplevelsen av slektskap med det animerte objektet forskjellig for skaperen(e) av objektet, og publikum? I Emotional machines – composing for unstable media har spørsmålene har blitt undersøkt ved hjelp av en gruppe animerte kinetiske figurer. Disse figurene har opptrådt i en rekke kunstneriske sammenhenger hovedsakelig galleriutstillinger og scenepresentasjoner. Prosjektet ble avsluttet med to utfyllende offentlige kunstneriske presentasjoner som fant sted i Bergen i juni/juli 2021: En tidsbasert sceneproduksjon vist på Cornerteatret og en galleriutstilling vist på Lydgalleriet. Presentasjonene er tilknyttet hverandre og har fellestittelen For one – for many – for all. Denne eksposisjonen presenterer de kinetiske figurene, prosessen med å utvikle dem, spørsmålene de har bidratt til å utforske, resulterende kunstneriske verk (med særlig vekt på de endelige kunstneriske presentasjonene i juni/juli 2021), kunstnerne som bidro til disse offentlige presentasjonene samt en rekke refleksjonstekster drevet frem av arbeidet med prosjektet.

For one – for many

Grieghallen 09.11.2019 as part of Bit20 ensemble' 30th anniversary.

November 9^th 2019 Bergens Bit20 ensemble celebrated their 30th anniversary. Bit 20 is a contemporary music sinfonietta which I am a member of responsible for the sound engineering and live electronics. The anniversary in Grieghallen made use of the entire building. It consisted of many exhibitions and installations in the foyer areas and several parallel concert programs in the concert halls. In addition to sound engineering and live processing for a full day of concerts on the main stage including a world premiere of Knut Vaages "Hybridisation" a piece that I have developed the electronics for, I was asked to set up an exhibition as part of the installations in the common areas.

I asked for a private space for the exhibition and was given a room adjacent to the lower foyer. It was secluded from the rest of the installations and concerts although there was some audio bleed from other activities.

As I had a very intense day running the sound for 3 full-length concerts in the main concert hall, I couldn't be present for the exhibition period's duration. Therefore, a volunteer stayed in the exhibition space to monitor the exhibition and start and stop the figures.

Not being able to be present during the exhibition period influenced the presentation in many ways.

Firstly figures #7 and #8 would not be active as these need direct control and cannot playback a scripted sequence the same way the other sculptures can. They were instead placed in the space as nonmoving sculptures.

I also opted to organise the space so that the audience would look into the exhibition area from behind a list of led strips creating a frontal perspective where the audience viewed the exhibition's activity in an arrangement akin to a traditional stage-audience setup.

The figures featured were, #3 through 6 and #9 with #7 and 8 exhibited as objects but not moving.

Layout

The room the exhibition was installed in was a rectangular space with a slanted ceiling on the length side to the audience area's right.

From the audience area, it was mostly possible to see every sculpture at the same time. I had placed #4 to the right of the audience area, which was the only one not directly in front of the audience. In the centre back of the exhibition area I placed #3, a bit forward and to the left #5 and a bit back to the right #6. On the floor either side and "facing" the audience #7 and #8. At the far right of the exhibition area, I hung #9 using copper wire. This sculpture was designed to use a human as part of its mechanism, so it was somewhat out of its element in this exhibition. The handgrip intended for a human to support it during locomotion was used to suspend the sculpture from the ceiling. The movements Tall with Blood would typically use to propel itself here was mere flailing of its limbs in the air. The flexibility of the wire used to suspend it from the ceiling allowed the sculpture to rotate along the axis where the wire was attached, amplifying its movements.

Sound and light

The exhibition's audience area was delimited by led strips that held a static blue coloured light that bled into the area inhabited by the sculptures. The sculptures where additionally lit by two led lamps providing a dim white light. The figures were accompanied by sound emanating from four large studio monitors a subwoofer and single speaker element (mounted on Tall with Blood) lying on the floor. The subwoofer was placed under the slanted ceiling centre to excite a deep room resonance.

The soundscape was created using mostly repurposed material from previous compositions. It was quite ambient and relatively static. The speaker on the floor was used for creaking sounds, and some sounds that sounded like vocalisations. There was no direct synchronisation between the audio and the movements of the sculptures.

Movement segment

Since I could not be present during the exhibition period, I had made a movement segment that was not to physically demanding for the sculptures to avoid breakdowns. The volunteer exhibition guard would only start the segment when an audience was present to minimise wear on the figures.

Tip

Tip

For one – for many

Layout

Sound and light

Movement segment