for this piece i use camera feedback by pointing my camera at a crt tv and feeding its image back into itself. i project a light with a heart shaped shadow onto the screen. that light becomes part of the loop, altering the system in real time
the audio comes from my own heartbeat processed through fx pedals with a synth melody alongside it
for whatever reason this particular piece made me want to share a bit about some of the ideas that drive my desire to create. i’m drawn to feedback, recursion, chaos, and emergence. how pattern, form, and meaning arise from simple systems. it feels fundamental to how the universe operates. small inputs can create complex behavior and can grow or collapse depending on what the system can sustain. like a mysterious force to interact with creatively. matter, life, consciousness, love. all emergent
even watching this footage back created a feedback loop in my own thoughts. metaphor and meaning emerged without intention. the heart begins as a symbol of care and intimacy, but once it enters the system it becomes unstable. it stretches, echoes, fragments, sometimes reinforcing itself and sometimes disappearing. even our physical hearts work this way, constantly listening, adjusting, repeating and eventually stopping
what started out as an idea about depicting love became more so about observing what happens when it’s reflected back onto itself again and again. and what might emerge from that. anyways, happy v-day haha
i recently picked up one of these plasma ball lamps for some live visuals i did at @templeoffriends (dungeon synth show, so good). i’ve always wanted one, and couldn’t resist grabbing some footage to slow down and mess with
for the audio, i sampled noise by using my body as an antenna (literally just touching an audio input, haha), picking up electrical interference from the environment and recording it.
paired with footage of the plasma globe reacting to touch, this brings normally invisible electrical forces into something you can hear and see
macro footage of iridescence on soap bubbles. using regular, non-polarized light this time
the shifting colors come from light waves interfering, similar to my crystal footage where some colors strengthen and others cancel. but this time, the effect comes from light reflecting off the front and back of an ultra-thin soap film
sound created by me
more time-lapse microscope footage of crystal formation. this time, using sodium acetate. it’s the same stuff used in those hand warmers that crystallize. it’s also used in the chemical bath solution for photography/film processing
under polarized light, white light passing through the growing crystal is slowed differently in different directions, splitting into two waves that fall out of sync or phase. when those light waves recombine, some colors cancel while others are reinforced, creating this shifting rainbow iridescence that you see
weird sounds created by me
massive shout out to the SLC/Utah creative community.
artists, musicians, organizers, promoters, curators, venues, spaces, techs, crew, volunteers, photographers, videographers, designers, zine makers, documentarians, supporters, audiences, and local businesses. feeling lucky to create alongside you all. thanks for bringing me along 🙏❤️
this is just some of the footage I (and others) managed to capture. there was soooo much more great stuff.
allucinations INST 5
more ultra macro explorations of ink and glycerin in motion
these patterns remain endlessly interesting to me for how complex structure emerges from simple conditions and motion, giving rise to familiar natural forms
the accompanying ambient track was created on my modular synth
allucinations INST 4
once again using an ultra macro lens, this one captures candle smoke illuminated by a laser scanner. by intentionally offsetting the camera’s shutter speed from the laser’s scanning frequency, the image fractures into a rhythmic stutter, using timing itself as a compositional element
this ambient composition, created via my modular synth, was written to echo and reinforce this fractured visual rhythm
allucinations INST 3
more ultra macro footage of various inks and other materials mixing
the ambient track for this one was created by sampling Julee Cruise, The World Spins and using various modulations via my modular synth
allucinations INST 2
ultra-macro footage of glycerin reacting with alcohol and ink pigments, this time lit with natural sunlight refracted through a prism
the prism light hits the ripples in the glycerin and creates these drifting rainbow caustics
allucinations INST 1
microscope footage of isopropyl alcohol and vegetable glycerin mixing at 40x.
I scored this ambient piece to accompany it. I plan to do a series of these called allucinations.
