With my last piece being incredibly concept based (as many of mine are), the research I did on the bases of it kept me on track and gave me a solid discussion point as it was showing, as well as in critique. I'm going to add some more formal responses to how the research inspired me and what it did for my concept.
Response to research on Cymatics:
This topic was originally brought to light by Dwight during my sounds class, but almost immediately afterwards, I started looking at things on my own. There is a lot out there that is theoretical on the meaning of cymatics, some of which is very valid and I will discuss, but I'd like to start off with the main facts: cymatics centers around the study of visual figures created by transduction of waveforms into generally a liquid or powder. These figures are directly linked to the waveform that is played through them and seem to reference many different well known symbols. Some see the signs of chakra, while others draw references to crop circles and other unexplained phenomena. I draw connections to creation and pure representation of the natural, seeing as though its a direct visualization through transduction. I also was interested in this topic, because it is possibly the oldest form of sound visualization known to exist. It's always great to start at the roots, because it is generally more simple there and leave a lot of room to build upon.
Response to research on Fractals.
Fractals pretty much blew my mind. I look at many things completely different now, thinking about fractals and the theory behind them. Although the representation of fractals is a lot newer than cymatics, the theory behind them is pretty old. Fractals speak to me because of their vast power to explain through simplicity along with their commonality in sound. It fit together well with water and cymatics as well, considering I see fractal imagery within cymatics. Many systems of composition are actually also fractal in nature which led me ever further down the rabbit hole as far as concept went. Just the whole idea of self referencing into infinity is really interesting to me and leads me to many conclusions within my piece and in the world in general. Finding common threads between ideas and executions has turned out to be a very valid way to start a concept for me, especially with installation. Complexity theory as a whole is something that fractals has really opened up to me, and Patrick has led me in new directions with it as well, hoping to further my work and make it more effective. These theories have given me an incredibly strong base to start building a possible thesis upon utilizing sound and who knows what else.
The future holds much more research within complexity theory, installation work, and composition/sound work. I feel like zeroing down and honing a concept and aesthetic is the next step for me, and I've made huge strides towards that goal this semester.
