Sound and the Fury

I fortuitously experienced the traveling ‘What Color Does a Sound Make” exhibition before it skipped town. The phenomenon of seeing colors when hearing sounds - known as synesthesia - is unique to small percentage of individuals. But most people can instinctively sense that some specific imagery better complements sound. That’s what this exhibit seemed to focus on.

My favorite works were the single channel projector installation rooms by Granular-Synthesis and the D:Fuse / Scanner collaboration. I had not heard any of Scanner’s work for several years, but it was perfect accompaniment for the bouncing diffracted mandala of distorted stoplight footage composed by the D:Fuse group. The sign on the door to LUX - by Granular-Synthesis - cautioned anyone susceptible to epilepsy and motion sickness. This immersive installation seemed very abstract yet organic, and reminded me of a 35×35 monitor videowall (over a thousand TV sets) that once “breathed” on me at the World Expo in Sevilla.

Very cool to see this kaleidoscope of consciousness, created by the world’s leading audio-visual artists, in Denver. In addition to the two environments described above, many of the other installations were equally inspiring. Seems that the D:Fuse and Granular-Synthesis works are available on DVD, I’ll be picking those up directly to share with friends.

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