Read/Write/Remix continued
This is a brief synopsis that details more of the process and software side of Read/Write/Remix:
With this piece my main focus was Remix Culture and the use of sampling in the art making process. It is my belief that innovation and creativity grow from connecting ideas rather than from protecting them. The lines between art, music, film, literature and technology have blurred – making everything fair game for communicating ideas. I wanted to explore the concept that Remix is an art in itself and has the potential to evolve and further expand into the mainstream of contemporary art.
I spent countless hours searching the World Wide Web for various audio and image based sources that I sampled for potential use in my own piece. This was followed by a selection process where I chose the audio and video files I felt were best suited to the piece. Finally they were edited to meet my specifications. I also created base audio and video tracks that would loop while the NanoPads were not being interacted with.
I used two Korg NanoPad MIDI controllers, one to control audio clips and the other to control video, as the interactive components in the piece. Using black acrylic and various tools, I fabricated two custom housings for the NanoPads, allowing only a select portion of the controller to be used by the audience.
Using Max/MSP/Jitter I built a patch that allowed certain video loops to be launched when they were triggered by the video dedicated MIDI controller. It also allowed audio coming in from Ableton Live, triggered by the audio dedicated MIDI controller, to have a direct effect on the color space. This patch was essentially the framework for the whole visual aspect of the piece, as well as some parts of the audio component.
