Cruise the Circuit, 1999. 5 min, color, stereo. Available on VHS video as part of the collection Opus Alchymicum. Soundtrack available on the compact disc The Alchemist's Dream. Streaming MP3 audio Play broadband Play 56k modem My latest computer animated video began its life as a musical piece, which you can hear in MPEG-3 or RealAudio by clicking the links above. I took the audio recordings of Cruise the Circuit to The Experimental Television Center in Owego, New York, where I was offered a five-day artist's residency. With their custom-built video synthesizer system, I transduced the audio signals into video imagery. The next step was to digitize over 20 minutes of video for subsequent manipulation in 3D Studio MAX. I applied the video as texture maps to geometry in the scene. The audio controller in 3D Studio MAX provided additional geometric transformations, locked to the music tracks. The result is a tightly orchestrated piece of visual music. I rendered two camera views for a stereoscopic 3D version of the animation. The standard monoscopic version is available on the VHS video, Opus Alchymicum.

Here is the descriptive statement I wrote about the piece. For nearly a century, filmmakers and other visual artists have attempted to emulate the ineffable qualities of music, and to create visual analogies to specific musical pieces. From Kandinsky’s music-inspired paintings, through the abstract animation of Oscar Fischinger and others, to the lightshows of the 1960s, many artists have struggled with the inherent paradoxes of music visualization. The holy grail of synaesthetic art seems elusive, but electronic tools open up many paths toward perceptual unity. Cruise the Circuit is a synthesis of many artistic disciplines and techniques. In contrast to the usual collaboration between musician and filmmaker, this piece is the result of a singular aesthetic vision. It is a musical composition I wrote, performed, and recorded with the intent of subsequent visualization. Previous experiments with audio/video synthesis, virtual reality and computer animation have given me the experience to utilize those aspects of disparate technologies which most effectively meet my artistic goals. Analog synthesis, often considered obsolete in the world of video art, presents many opportunities for realtime creation of visual music. A custom-built analog video synthesizer is like a fine Stradivarius, and will always have unique aesthetic properties, regardless of technological progress or the whims of fashion. These modular devices enable, among other things, the instantaneous transduction of audio signals into abstract video art. During a five-day residency at the Experimental Television Center in upstate New York, I transformed the individual audio tracks of Cruise into video imagery using many different synthesizers, including Nam June Paik’s famous "Wobulator." The disadvantage of this technique is the limited visual palette which video synthesis offers, so I recorded the results on videotape for subsequent manipulation in a virtual 3D space. Ideally, the work would be presented in a realtime immersive environment such as the music-driven virtual reality created by Fakespace Inc. However, limitations of today’s hardware present technical barriers, so the only viable alternative for me is prerendered 3D animation. It is a clear trade-off: computer animation sacrifices the immediate feedback of VR in favor of an extended range of visual instrumentation. And in this context, form and content are nearly synonymous, so the advantages of greater control cannot be underestimated. Since pure mimicry of audio events (the "Mickey Mouse" effect) is usually less than captivating, it is necessary to provide visual counterpoint to the music. In Cruise the Circuit, I accomplish this via the environments through which the visual instruments move. Subtle, chaotic algorithmic control over object position and rotation further enhances the unpredictability which sustains audience interest. Finally, direct soundfile control over object parameters such as polyhedral symmetry add another element of fascination to the experience. The result is a polyphonic, multitimbral synthesis of light, color, and geometry. The piece can be considered as a time-based synaesthetic experience stored on a magnetic medium, but I prefer to view it as a document of a one-of-a-kind "color organ" which operates in extreme slow motion.