DEGREE PROJECT PROPOSAL
The art and power behind motion graphics has forever changed the way a crowd experiences a performance. With the development of new technology and projection mapping, visuals have taken a fore front of many stages and have even “stolen the show”. From world renowned festivals, auditorium showings, and even gallery spaces, motion design has made its mark in combination with the sound of music stretching across all genres.
Throughout history humans have instinctually gathered together to enjoy shows of all sorts. Our modern day dance offs usually take place in a club, or even in a breath taking landscape of a festival. With the aid of motion graphics and its explosion in technology since the 60’s with media based pioneers like John Whitney, artists have been working together with performers and event organizers to create a truly encompassing, inclusive experience. Imagine a performance in this day and age without it –– one almost can’t. Its integration with the music industry is so heavy that some kind of graphic is involved with almost every large scale show, and even the smaller ones.
The technological advancements in the last forty years in this field have accelerated its influence and impressions even further. The development of visual jockeying which is an art form dealing with the synesthetic experience of vision and sound (typically executed in real time) has offered unlimited possibilities for what can be projected on a screen and to the audience. The invention of projection mapping allows for visuals to illuminate building structures and scenery, creating a space that the viewers are submerged in. I am interested in how it has revolutionized a spectator’s experience and the take aways gained from visual impressions being made in the harmony of sound and light with the connectivity it generates throughout a crowd of strangers.
My demographic that this project would appeal to involves frequent show attendees as well as those with a passion for music and the experimental arts. I envision my deliverable as being some type of social-experiment for viewers by combining lights, sounds, and motion graphics as a way to ornate a mood and feeling for the “room”. The construct would deal with triggering a range of their emotions through the use of these visual techniques and seeing just how far this perfect harmony can bring the human mind out of its surroundings and to somewhere (perhaps unrecognizably) “new.” The interconnectivity between the performer, band or dj, visual jockey, and crowd is a symbiotic relation like no other and has peaked my interest in just what can be conveyed by these two ingenious forms of self expression.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Collective, VJam. VJam Theory: Collective Writings on Realtime Visual Performance. Realtime Books, 2008.
Whitney, John. “Digital Harmony: on the Complementarity of Music and Visual Art.” Amazon, Byte Books, 1980, www.amazon.com/Digital-Harmony-Complementarity-Music-Visual/dp/007070015X.
Faulkner, Michael. VJ: Audio-Visual Art + VJ Culture. King, 2006.
Momus. “Design Takes Center Stage.” Yumpu.com, Aug. 2010, www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/2447706/vj-culture-adobe.
“What Is 3D Projection Mapping?” Chicago Projection Mapping - Chicago’s Premiere Video and 3D Projection Mapping Company, 22 June 2018, www.chicagoprojectionmapping.com/what-is-3dprojection-mapping/.
Lund, Cornelia. Audio. Visual: on Visual Music and Related Media. Arnoldsche, 2009.
