OsciloX
Discrete events in noisy domains, 2008
(Flash-based interactive sound work)
Author: Tanja Vujinovic
Production: Exstat, 2007
www.exstat.org
(On-line version can be accessed here: OsciloX, loading time is approximately 6 seconds with broadband connection)
OsciloX is a sound artwork from the series Discrete Events in Noisy Domains.
Discrete Events in Noisy Domains are tactile-sonic objects or ambients based on multiple nonlinear video and sound systems that recode events into data streams of audio-visual noise. The Discrete Events in Noisy Domains cycle is focused on the soft pulsing and reverberation of discrete units. It consists of multimedia toys that create interval spaces through a stretched and granulated flux of signals and interactions.
OsciloX is a non-linear amalgam of a continuously shifting, multi-layered sound structure that mostly depends on user input. This flash based interactive work consists of more than 160 small fields resembling grain fields that each have assigned sounds of various length, from several seconds to several minutes. Smaller particles produce sound whenever clicked, while bigger ones, in addition to clicking, also trigger sounds if a user's mouse (or finger, in case a touch screen is used) is hovering above one. During the length of each circle (the passing of toys through the interface window), the assigned sounds switch the fields they are assigned to, making the resulting sound even richer and more complex. A version of this work is available on the Internet with an output consisting of a multitude of streaming mono signals, while the gallery sound installation version transmits a multitude of stereo sounds at 44 kHz. Depending on the users' input, the resulting sound can be both soothing and can resemble a lullaby if the input action is slow, while vigorously clicking and moving a mouse (or a hand) can produce incredible glitches and intense noise.
The initial sounds used for "OsciloX" were made through the computer processing and shaping of sounds from both synthetic and acoustic sources. These sound samples were made either for or through interaction with the objects-toys from the "Discrete Events in Noisy Domains" series.
Objects from the mentioned series embody the main features of contemporary toys by means of close personal contact through touch, simplified cute shapes, and the construction of micro-worlds through modularity, and limited, mostly sound-based interactivity. Mood-changing, interactive toys, and electronic pets are continually being produced around most of the planet for all generations, including the latest Japanese trends regarding toys made especially for older people, designed to express love by means of sound and which comfort the elderly population with their mere presence. Toys made in a variety of shapes and materials ranging from pocket-size plush and vinyl characters, to large scale immersive spaces that can be modularly upgraded, reflect the need for escapism and comfort, especially present in diverse modulations of the kawaii phenomenon, a Japanese cultural tendency toward cuteness, which continues to influence toy manufacturers all over the world. Just as Roland Barthes described in his famous essay on toys, adults supply children with toys that help children form new microcosms, which are exact smaller replicas of the world of adults. They are modular doppelgängers that function as units in building synthetic micro-worlds where false interactivity, fantasy, and imitation blossom. From vinyl action figures from popular television series and movies such as Star Wars and Teletubbies, to cartoons such as Pokemon and Pucca, to the famous Hello Kitty character made by the Sanrio corporation, My Little Ponies, Pikatchues, and Tamagotchis, they are continually consumed in a tremendous number of variants and sizes. The uncanny existence of some of the features of these characters is heightened by their helplessness, simplicity, and so called interactive and personal relation with the owner. Since the inception of the first mechanical dolls and decorative sound boxes, to Thomas Edison's invention of phonographic Talking Dolls, up until the present day, toys that produce sound continue to be the most desired and appreciated products on the market. Audio-toys are able to produce onomatopoeic sounds, or more usually, upon being triggered by a touch or external sound, they pronounce their own name or some common phrases related to play. Plush toys continuously invite one to touch and squeeze them with their almost amorphous, yet always strictly branded, and softly defined outlines.
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