Coding as Traslation

Remake of UVA’s Chromatic
A study in how space can be structured through movement, light, and time.

Expertise: Digital Experiment | Methology | Web
Design: January 2024

This project is a series of experiments on information conversion, involving sound, colour, gesture, and mouse movement. Using coding as a method, any form of information can be translated into digital data, enabling correspondence across different formats. At its core, the process is about creating a relationship between two sequences.

From text to sound

if (keyCode === 66) { 
    synth.triggerAttackRelease('a#3', '8n');
 }

From gesture to picture

spec = map(brightness, 50, 255, 300, 1800);

if (spec < 900) {

if (counter % 2== 0) {

metalSynth.triggerAttackRelease('G#2', '8n',time);

}

}

if (spec < 2000) {

noiseSynth.triggerAttackRelease("32n");

}

From sound to color

for (let i = 0; i < vols.length; i++) {

fill(spec, 100, 100);

x = x + vols[i];

rect(x, 0, vol, windowHeight);

}

From text to color

if (keyIndex === -1) {

fill(0);

rect(x, y, rectWidth, h);

} else {

let col = map(keyIndex, 0, 25, 0, 360);

fill(col,50,100);

rect(x, y, rectWidth, h);

}

Loose Association of Translation

Taking language as an example, we consider English pronunciation rules and English spelling rules as a common, default rule. But we must also be aware that 'a' has different pronunciations in different languages. After realizing this, the relationship between the letter 'a' and the pronunciation /ēi/ is surprising. If correlations can be established between sound and text, can correlations also be established between sound and colour, sound and shape, text and colour, and text and sound?

As a tool, coding provides a means to establish a strict bridge between medium A and medium B: the if/else statement. In a conditional command, once the input is determined, the output is also unique. However, as Ryan did in the Exercise in Style, I can come up with a hundred commands and medium B. This connection can be seen as a loose association, a drift.

This one-to-one conversion forms a sequence, where each piece of information is both the output of the previous step and the input for the next.

Reference Points

Chromatic，180 studio，2023

Loose Associations, Ryan Gander, 2007

99 Variations on a Proof, Philip Ording

Related Projects

Space & Shape, 2024

Shape/ Symbol, 2024