This volume surveys the key histories, theories and practice of artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers, architects and technologists that have worked and continue to work with visual material in real time.
Covering a wide historical period from Pythagoras’s mathematics of music and colour in ancient Greece, to Castel’s ocular harpsichord in the 18th century, to the visual music of the mid-20th century, to the liquid light shows of the 1960s and finally to the virtual reality and projection mapping of the present moment, Live Visuals is both an overarching history of real-time visuals and audio-visual art and a crucial source for understanding the various theories about audio-visual synchronization. With the inclusion of an overview of various forms of contemporary practice in Live Visuals culture – from VJing to immersive environments, architecture to design – Live Visuals also presents the key ideas of practitioners who work with the visual in a live context.
This book will appeal to a wide range of scholars, students, artists, designers and enthusiasts. It will particularly interest VJs, DJs, electronic musicians, filmmakers, interaction designers and technologists.
Table of Contents:
List of contributors
Acknowledgements
Introduction - The Long History of Moving Images Becoming Alive
Steve Gibson
PART I THE HISTORY OF LIVE VISUALS
Chapter 1 - Inventing Instruments: Colour-Tone Correspondence to Colour-Music Performance (pre-1900)
Maura McDonnell
Chapter 2 - Moving Towards the Performed Image (Colour Organs, Synesthesia and Visual Music): Early Modernism (1900-1955)
Steve Gibson
Chapter 3 - Liquid Visuals: Late Modernism and Analogue Live Visuals (1950-1985)
Steve Gibson
Chapter 4 - Scratch Video and Rave: The Rise of the Live Visuals Performer (1985-2000)
Léon McCarthy and Steve Gibson
Chapter 5 - The Post-conceptual Digital Era (2000-present)
Paul Goodfellow and Steve Gibson
PART II THE THEORY OF LIVE VISUALS
Chapter 6 - Cross-Modal Theories of Sound and Image
Joseph Hyde
Chapter 7 - Live Visuals in Theory and Art
Paul Goodfellow
Chapter 8 - Live Visuals: Technology and Aesthetics
Léon McCarthy
Chapter 9 - AVUIs: Audio-Visual User Interfaces - Working with Users to Create Performance Technologies
Nuno N. Correia and Atau Tanaka
Chapter 10 - A Parametric Model for Audio-Visual Instrument Design, Composition and Performance
Adriana Sá and Atau Tanaka
Chapter 11 - Presence and Live Visuals Performance
Donna Leishman
PART III THE PRACTICE OF LIVE VISUALS
Chapter 12 - VJing, Live Audio-Visuals and Live Cinema
Steve Gibson and Stefan Arisona
Chapter 13 - Immersive Environments and Live Visuals
Steve Gibson
Chapter 14 - Architectural Projections: Changing the Perception of Architecture with Light
Simon Schubiger, Stefan Arisona, Lukas Treyer, and Gerhard Schmitt
Chapter 15 - Design and Live Visuals
Donna Leishman
PART IV INTERVIEWS WITH KEY PRACITIONERS–STEVE GIBSON
Chapter 16 - Interview 1 - Tony Hill, Expanded Cinema pioneer
Chapter 17 - Interview 2 - Christopher Thomas Allen, Founder & Director, The Light Surgeons
Chapter 18 - Interview 3 - Greg Hermanovic, CEO, Derivative
Chapter 19 - Interview 4 - Markus Heckmann, Technical Director, Derivative; Programmer for Carsten Nicolai and others.
Chapter 20 - Interview 5 - Peter Mettler, Digital and Live Cinema Artist
Afterward
Index
About the Author :
Steve Gibson is an interactive media artist and audio-visual performer. He has presented at many world-leading venues, including Ars Electronica, Banff Centre for the Arts, the European Media Arts Festival and Cabaret Voltaire. He is an Associate Professor in Innovative Digital Media at Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK. www.telebody.ws
Stefan Arisona is a computer scientist and artist with interests in computer graphics, extended reality, urban planning and digital art. He is a member of the Scheinwerfer VJ collective and leads XR software development at the Esri R&D Center Zurich, Switzerland. https://robotized.arisona.ch
Donna Leishman is a media artist, designer and researcher. Recent works include an AR project To Have & To Hold and Front, a modern cautionary tale about social media. She is an Associate Professor in Communication Design at Northumbria University. http://6amhoover.com
Atau Tanaka conducts research in music human–computer interaction (HCI), focusing on embodied musical interaction. By using muscle sensing in performance, the human body becomes a musical instrument. He carries out his work at Goldsmiths, the Bristol Interaction Group and the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme Paris Nord. www.ataut.net
Review :
“Live Visuals is a timely and compelling account of the relationship between sound and image. It charts a historical course that is long overdue. The book brings together an impressive array of voices that in combination mix historical context, theoretical analysis, and reflections on contemporary practice, to great effect. It is an invaluable resource for audio-visual students and scholars and makes a very significant contribution to intellectual debate in this field.” Professor Stephen Kennedy, Professor of Critical Theory and Practice, Greenwich University
“Live Visuals presents a timely historical and conceptual overview of the art and design of live media. Featuring the work of the early pioneers to some of today’s leading designers of spatial media, Live Visuals offers a framework for creative practitioners and students of the art of immersive visual experiences.” Damien Smith, Creative Partner, ISO, http://isodesign.co.uk
