Elemental Forces

This series of digital art and oil paintings represents is a meditation on air, light, surfaces, sound and color. By limiting my subject to mundane materials, I am trying to create what Kant referred to as a ‘disinterested’ state, so that the viewer focuses on these qualities, without the distraction of ‘interesting’ subject matter.

For the digital augmented reality experience, point your device at the paintings or a surface, to experience mathematically derived shapes and synthesized sound. Changing the path the shapes travel, changes how the sequence is played and alters the sound. The program is structured around simple geometric shapes, with sounds placed at various intervals along the shape. When struck, the shape emits a tone based on a variety of pentatonic scales. Similar to the painting, I have tried to focus on the fundamentals of rhythm and tone, to keep the experience a calm and meditative one.

I find the mathematics behind programming shapes and sound to be as fascinating and enjoyable as observing how light wraps around objects lit from a north window. I hope that this work will create a space for people to contemplate, perceive and hear that is similar to what I experience while working in my studio.