by Giuseppe Taormina -

Another application of music in the medical context

The power of music, as we already know, is astounding, and its possible applications in so many different contexts makes it more and more fascinating.

Besides the healing qualities that music itself has, we can find many, let’s say, technical application that allow it to work with science.

Here I would like to focus on its application in the medical field, in particular in physiotherapy (rehabilitation).

But how and why could it be useful?

Well, classical physiotherapy is sometimes repetitive (boring), not cheap at all (due to one-to-one treatments) and can’t be really monitored at home.

So… could we solve these problems using music? Well, the answer is yes.

A project that particularly interests me in this field is PhysioSonic, developed in IEM Graz.

Using a tracking system, the human body is detected and its data is used to synthesize and / or transform audio files. This provides the patient with auditory feedback, which allows him to understand whether the exercise was performed correctly or not.

Here is their statement about the project:

“In PhysioSonic, we focus on the following principles: 

  • The tracking is done without a disturbance of the subject, as markers are fixed to an overall suit (and the subject does not, e.g., have to hold a device).
  • In collaboration with a sport scientist, positive (target) and negative (usually evasive) movement patterns are defined. Their range of motion is adapted individually to the subject. Also, a whole training sequence can be pre-defined.
  • The additional auditory feedback changes the perception including the proprioception of the subject, and the move- ments are performed more consciously. Eyes-free condi- tion for both the subject and an eventual observer (trainer) free the sight as an additional modality. In addition to the target movement, pre-defined evasive movements are made aware.
  • We sonify simple and intuitive attributes of the body move- ment (e.g., absolute height, velocity). Thus, the subject eas- ily understands the connection between them and the sound. This understanding is further enhanced by using simple me- taphors: e.g., a spinning-wheel-metaphor keeps the subject moving and thus ’pushing’ the sound; if the subject does not accumulate enough ’energy’, the looping sound of a disk- getting-stuck metaphor is used.
  • The sounds are adapted to each subject. Music and spoken text that are used as input sounds can be chosen and thus en- hance the listening pleasure. Also, the input sounds change over time and have a narrative structure, where the repeti- tion of a movement leads to a different sound, thus avoiding fatigue or annoyance. (Still, the sonification design is well-defined, and the quality of the sound parameters changes according to the mapping.) “

The tracking system used is the VICON tracking system that allows a spatial resolution in the millimeter range and a temporal resolution and reaction time less than 10 ms. This means that it detects movements really precisely.

The data is then processed in the VICON system and used in SuperCollider (platform for audio synthesis and algorithmic composition) to synthesize and process sounds. The system allows a very detailed continuous temporal and spatial control of the sound produced in real time.

[1]

Some videos can be found at https://iem.at/Members/vogt/physiosonic

Currently, this system is set up at the hospital Theresienhof in Frohn- leiten, Austria. 

Reference:

[1] K. Vogt, D.Pirro ́, I. Kobenz, R. Höldrich, G. Eckel – Physiosonic – Movement sonification as auditory feedback. 2009.

by Katsiaryna Palishchuk -

Crypto Art

Small Introduction to “Redesign” Topic, firstly.


Speaking with supervisor, person advised me to narrow down my topic. What is kinda complicated, since I still have no idea, where it leads.  So to say, I still believe that redesign is more about changes, when do they start and to what lead.

Thats true,  we can’t find the answer on question «when will we finish to redesign things» since it is rhetorical.  New solutions, technologies, people, ideas. Redesign is about our world itself.


So, I decided to narrow topic to redesign as flow of time, where we discussing results, influences, slightest changes. No questions, only observation and disсussions.

And now back to the main theme:


Redesign of Art. Crypto Art.


In previous topic I described the contemporary art and how that will probably change in future or presence. And I miss one important detail — crypto art. Sounds like new contemporary, isn’t it?

СryproArt — synthesis of art and cryptocurrency. At first glance, combining cryptocurrency and blockchain with fine art may seem like a strange idea. Street art, graffiti, memes — all these types of contemporary art are quite suitable for the crypto world, but the words “cryptocurrency” and “painting” rarely appear in the same sentence.

Bitcoin and the entire explosion of modern digital currencies have been a technology that has transcended currencies and is ultimately transforming a whole host of industries in truly important ways.

To understand the appeal of crypto art, it is worth accepting one idea about blockchain: blockchain technology allows digital assets to become scarce.

Blockchain is a fairly new technological platform that connects millions of devices and is open to everyone. The Harvard Business Review describes it as “an open distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties in an efficient and verifiable manner on an ongoing basis.” If you have never heard of blockchain, you may be familiar with Bitcoin or Ethereum cryptocurrencies that use such technology.

Being a digital media-only artist is very difficult due to the nature of digital media, which can be copied indefinitely. It is not unique, and people just weren’t interested in collecting it and appreciated it as closely as physical art in the real world.

Also, demand is influenced by the fact that new collectors have come to the world art market. Now, they are millennials, who grew up in the digital age. They need instant access to information, including prices for works of art. 

This is a revolutionary concept: what is digital can actually be unique. Yes, what is digital can be rare, which means that, finally, digital media can be owned and collected in the same way as physical objects.

Usually the idea when it comes to cryptocurrencies is that when using blockchain, coins always look the same. With the help of NFTs (non-fungible tokens), you can tell right away that this token is for this work of art, and this token is for this work of art. 

Crypto Art (NFT) can be divided into two groups: First generation and second generation.

Several questions arise, right?

The first and most important question: why does anyone pay for something that is already in the public domain?

There is a difference between downloading a picture or animation to a computer and owning the original backed by an NFT token. The files you download are worth nothing, while the NFT-backed painting is an original piece of art from the artist. In the same way, everything happens in the physical world. You can download a photograph of a Van Gogh painting or order a hand-drawn replica —  in any case, such copies will not cost as much as the original. In the digital world, only owning an NFT token will allow you to sell or gift a piece of art, as well as receive a percentage of subsequent resale.

Second question: why is crypto art so expensive?

The presence of value is always associated with a lack of something. The scarcity of digital art is again confirmed by blockchain and NFT. In addition, people themselves endow any objects in our world with value, including in the digital space. Why are collectible cardboard athlete cards selling for thousands of dollars on Ebay? Designs of objects in computer games, T-shirts and even napkins with autographs of stars, and the actual banknotes themselves are of value only because people agreed so. In the case of crypto art, value is invested by collectors. Someone buys it for speculative purposes, while someone just wants to support the author with a coin. Crypto coin.

There is no generally accepted concept of what crypto art is, but it can be described by the following principles:

1. Digital nature. Digital art can be created, published, purchased and sold completely electronically.

2. Geographic independence. Artists from all over the world take part in the creation of the works. CryptoArt is the first truly global art movement.

3. Democracy. Everyone is encouraged to create artwork and popularize the movement, regardless of skill, achievement, class, gender, race, age, religion, etc.

4. Decentralization. The tools developed reduce the influence of art brokers and increase the power of the artists themselves.

5. Anonymity. The use of pseudonyms allows artists to create and sell works of art while remaining anonymous (if preferred), freeing them from social judgments.

Now digital art is going through its inception, driven by the development of technology. The number of artists and community members will only grow. And there is every reason to believe that CryptoArt is a completely new page in the history of art.

In my opinion, the phenomenon of crypto art, supported by these principles and promising NFT technology, deserves understanding, and early adopters and investors can be well rewarded in the future for their contribution to the development of the community in the early stages of its existence.

by Lena Geiregger -

The Art of Food Illustration

Die Darstellung von Lebensmitteln hat eine enorm lange Tradition in der Kunst und unserer Geschichte. Die Darstellung von Nahrungsmitteln hat schon immer eine wichtige Rolle gespielt: in Ägypten wurden z.B. Piktogramme von Pflanzen und Getreide und Lebensmitteln wie Brot in sehr reduzierter Form in Hieroglyphentafeln geschlagen. In der Renaissance waren die Darstellungen von Lebensmitteln im Vergleich dazu viel aufwendiger und naturalistischer gestaltet und dienten natürlich auch einem anderen Zweck. In dieser Zeit sind beispielsweise skurrile rätselhafte Porträts entstanden, in denen Gesichtszüge aus Obst, Gemüse und Blumen zusammengesetzt waren, wie in den Werken von Guiseppe Arcimboldo.

“Autumn Beard Man” von Guiseppe Arcimboldo

Doch die heutigen Darstellungen von Lebensmitteln gehen vor allem auf die Blütezeit der niederländischen Renaissance-Malerei zurück. Die großen, wunderschönen Stillleben dieser Zeit sind immer noch Vorbilder und Orientierungshilfen besonders in der modernen Food Photography, aber natürlich auch in der illustrativen Darstellung von Lebensmitteln. Noch heute gelten sehr ähnliche, aber in allem Fall vergleichbare, Prinzipien, Regeln und Überlegungen in der Komposition, dem Aufbau und der Gestaltung solcher Darstellungen.

Auch das zugrundeliegende Ziel ist dasselbe geblieben: In den Gemälden wurde jede Oberfläche sorgfältig gerendert, um die Illusion zu erzeugen, dass das Fest direkt vor dem Betrachter steht und ihm das Wasser im Mund zusammenläuft. Der hyperrealistische Stil der klassischen Stilleben hat das natürlich extrem gefördert und viele der damals entstandenen Gemälde wirken durch diese Detailgetreue eher wie ein Foto als eine Illustration.

“Still Life with Oysters and Grapes” von Jan Davidsz. de Heem – 1653

Im Vergleich zu den hyperrealistischen Stilleben der Niederländischen Renaissance stehen z.B. die illustrativen Darstellungen von Lebensmitteln von Paul Cezanne. Für postimpressionistische Maler wie Cezanne war die Beobachtung aus dem Leben nur der Beginn eines weitgehend einfallsreichen Prozesses. Sie haben lebendige Farben und lebhafte Pinselstriche mehr geschätzt als den Hyperrealismus der Vergangenheit. 

In der Zeit der Pop Art wurde Essen zu einer sozialen Metapher. Die Gemälde von Wayne Thiebaud spiegelten eine Wandergesellschaft wieder, in der üppige Desserts für amerikanische Fülle und Wohlstand standen. Er malte Kuchen- und Tortenreihen in leuchtenden Pastellfarben, die an Werbung und Kinderspielzeug erinnerten. 

Wayne Thiebaud – 1920

Insgesamt besteht in der zeitgenössischen Lebensmittelkunst eine gesunde Spannung zwischen Tradition und Bildersturm. Vor allem in der illustrativen Darstellung gibt es alles – von hyperrealistischen bis hin zu abstrakten Darstellungen von Lebensmitteln – hier ist jeder Zugang ok.

Angesichts dessen, dass hyperrealistische Gemälde und Illustrationen schon sehr nah an Fotografie rankommen, jedoch viel zeitaufwändiger sind und man nicht noch realistischer zeichnen kann, werden Darstellungen, die diese Qualitäten aufweisen sollen (Detailgetreue, Realitätsnähe, Darstellung der Wirklichkeit,…) oft mit Hilfe von Fotografie erzielt. 

Klassische Stillleben – natürlich auch eine Illustration — sind der Ausgangspunkt für beide Arten der Darstellung, wobei die illustrative Darstellung mit dem Aufkommen der Fotografie in den Hintergrund gerückt ist, aber als Kunstform nach wie vor Bestand hat. Illustration hat sich immer weiter entwickelt und verschiedene abstrakte, unrealistische und imaginative Ansätze hervorgebracht. Illustrative Lebensmitteldarstellungen haben zeitgenössisch betrachtet nicht unbedingt Anspruch auf Realität, sondern werden als Kunstform bzw. in Hinblick auf grafische Illustration als Teil von Design verstanden. Dieser Wahrheitsaspekt wird heute vor allem von Fotografie übernommen, die aufgrund des Mediums immer diesen hyperrealistischen Aspekt beibehält und in der Art des Stylings und der Komposition variieren kann, aber weniger Spielraum hat wenn es um die Darstellung von Nicht-Realem geht.

Daraus ergibt sich aber, dass Food Photography heutzutage oft nur eine veranschaulichende Funktion zugesprochen wird und nicht als Kunstform verstanden wird. Im Allgemeinen werden Aktfotos schnell als Kunst bezeichnet, während Lebensmittelfotografie in der „Illustrationsfunktion“ zu stecken scheint. Jedoch hat die „natural beauty“ Bewegung der letzten Jahre der Disziplin der Lebensmittelfotografie und Lebensmittelkompositionen sehr viel Anerkennung verliehen. 

Links:

www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/food-art-cultural-travel-180961648/

by Johannes Koelbl -

Granular Synthesis

Granular Synthesis is often referred and used for pad sounds, but it actually has a ridiculous number of applications and sound design possibilities. Granular Synthesis appears in a lot of tools in your DAW where you wouldn’t expect it, for example pitch shifting. With this method you are able to pitch shift audio without affecting the timing. The audio is getting sliced into a lot of tiny chunks called grains. It is basically the same method when you slice a drum groove, but at a much smaller scale. These tiny grains can have a duration about 1 ms – 100 ms. Grains can be compared with for example a video played back, because in a video you have all the different frames which you can play back at normal speed, but also speed it up or slow it down. In Granular Synthesis it gets interesting when you don’t play back the grains in the correct order but make it kind of random. You can also detune each grain, pan it in different positions or alter its volume. The possibilities are endless for lots of weird and abstract clouds of sounds.

But: Why aren’t there any clicks and pops?

That’s because each grain gets its own crossfade curve that could be just a linear triangle or some kind of bell like shape. This could really affect the sound that comes out. (Theory, 2019)

This process of a waveform modulated by a short envelope is also called a Grain Generator. The short packets of sounds could not only be played back after each other, but also layered on top to create more complex sounds. (Farnell, 2010)

by Katsiaryna Palishchuk -

Contemporary Art Definition

We can easily distinguish Renaissance from Classicism, and Impressionism from Cubism, but is it so easy to understand what contemporary art is?

Contemporary art in its current form was formed at the turn of the 1960s and 70s. The artistic quest of that time can be characterized as a search for alternatives to modernism (this often resulted in denial through the introduction of principles that were directly opposite to modernism). This was expressed in the search for new images, new means and materials of expression, up to the demoterization of the object (performances and happenings). The main goal was to distort the concept of spirituality. Many artists followed the French philosophers who coined the term “postmodernism”. We can say that there has been a shift from the object itself to the process.

The most notable phenomena of the turn of the 1960s and 1970s can be called the development of conceptual art and minimalism. In the 1970s, the social orientation of the art process became noticeably stronger, both in terms of content and composition: The most notable phenomenon of the mid-1970s was feminism in art.

The late 1970s and 1980s were characterized by a weariness of conceptual art and minimalism, and returning of interest in presenting, color, and figurativeness (the heyday of movements such as the New Wild). In the mid-1980s, the rise of movements that actively use images of mass culture — campism, East Village art, neo-pop are gaining strength. The heyday of photography in art also dates back to this time — more and more artists are beginning to turn to it as a means of artistic expression.

The art process was influenced by the development of technology: in the 1960s-video and audio, later computers and in the 1990s — the Internet .

The beginning of the 2000s was marked by disillusionment with the possibilities of technical means for artistic practices. Destructive concepts have done their pernicious work. At the same time, constructive philosophical justifications for contemporary art of the 21th century have not yet appeared. Some artists of the 2000s believe that Modern art is becoming an instrument of power in a “post-democratic” society. This process arouses enthusiasm among representatives of the art system and pessimism among artists and professionals.

A number of artists of the 2000s return to the commodity object, abandoning the process, and offer a commercially profitable attempt at modernism of the 21th century.

Aсcording to the iesa portal, contemporary art —is “the art of today,” more broadly includes artwork produced during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It generally defines art produced after the Modern Art movement to the present day. However, modern artwork is not just art produced during a specific time-frame. This genre of art does have its own approach or style that distinguishes it from others. 


The distinctive features of art include its versatility, timelessness and belonging to the entire human race, its ability to unite and inspire. It is hard to find any canons in this art direction. The definition is quite vague. People can draw classical paintings, mix different textures and conduct amazing performances.  A review thrown by a passing person can change the fate of the artist and his exhibition. It is not necessary to get any art degree to be an artist. Instagram, dribble, behance — access to the internet, desire to create or destroy — social media gives the possibilities. That works in both sides and everyone can be an art critic, if he would like to — comments, postsharings, reposts.

What makes today’s art especially challenging is that, like the world around us, it has become more diverse and cannot be easily defined through a list of visual characteristics, artistic themes or cultural concerns.

https://www.iesa.edu/paris/news-events/contemporary-art-definition

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/beginners-guide-20th-c-art/introduction-20c-art/a/contemporary-art-an-introduction

by Viktoria Sorko -

Tabletop photography

Generally speaking for photographers, still life photography or, among them, tabletop photography is a good medium for further practice and to improve the technical and artistic skills . The following blog post explains tips from photographers on how to set up and design a tabletop photography. Since the still life photography basically benefits from inanimate objects such as decoration, plants, food, etc., it is a very thoughtful and calm type of photography that is not based on spontaneity or random snapshots.

Table photography is a type of still life photography that can be described by the composition of the elements on a table surface. Here, the disciplines of food photography and product photography come together. Since mostly the objects of these types are also on a surface or a table surface.

As already mentioned, many photographers do not always use the medium of tabletop photography purely for commercial purposes, as it gives you the opportunity to try out a lot. Here you can look closely at the various light situations and what influences the texture and color of a substrate have. For example, you would see how well a light from the side comes from a weaker light source that brings out textures and materials. In addition, you have a great responsibility as a designer, because ultimately every aspect of the image can be influenced by the photographer.

Away from the sales or presentation idea, table photography does not always have to advertise a product or food. It can also create a pure mood picture or try to tell a story. Because the objects themselves also have a strong narrative character.

What do you need for table photography? As a specialist, you naturally benefit from professional and correspondingly expensive equipment. Nevertheless, no designer should be stopped by this, as you can create amazing photographs alone in a living room with basic equipment. Here you can orientate yourself on many creative DIY solutions.

Guide to the necessary equipment

– Any kind of camera. Of course, the quality and the possibilities of post-processing increase if you use a digital camera and not your own mobile phone. However, you shouldn’t be limited to trying table photography even if you don’t have a professional camera model.

– Different materials in different colors and shades to line the sub and background for the scene.

– Reflectors are essential to guide the light back into the scene and thus to highlight it. Here, too, there are simple alternative solutions if you don’t have a reflector.

– A stable surface, which also fits in the format, is the base level for table photography, which with this medium always plays a role as a presentation surface.

– Props are crucial in order to steer the mood of the table photography into a certain style. Here it is of course interesting if you rummage through the attic or look for treasures at flea markets

– Light set ups decide in which direction the photo will develop. A low key setup creates a completely different mood compared to a high key set up and must also be made depending on the choice of object.

Quellen:

https://expertphotography.com/complete-guide-still-life-table-top-photography/

https://www.enjoyyourcamera.com/Blickschule/Foto-Tutorials/Foto-Tutorial-Tabletop-Fotografie::14865.html

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabletop-Fotografie