Trio is a multiscreen installation of abstract digital images, each a visual echo of a distinct three-note chord from a string trio score by first-generation minimalist composer Tom Johnson.
Presented on four large screens, the images were created with custom software based on 288 combinations of violin, viola, and violoncello notes.
Hours: May 14–19th, 12–6pm and May 20-21 Sat/Sun by appointment
Opening reception: Tuesday, May 16th 2017 at 6:30pm
Each of the 49 notes used in Trio’s musical scale is assigned a color and a simple rectangular shape with dimensions determined by the note number. These shapes — known mathematically as ‘straight polyominoes’ — were inspired by the combinatorics at the heart of the string trio score. A note, represented by the same shape repeated either vertically or horizontally on the screen, is stacked with the two other visually translated notes to form a composite visual abstraction. Appearing architectonic yet malleable, these emergent visual compositions operate in their own realm as a series of digital paintings, one gently flowing into the next.
Galbraith’s installation continues a body of work exploring alternative relationships between sound and image enabled by software designed to cross media boundaries and form a new audiovisual composition environment.
David Galbraith is an artist and composer based in Brooklyn, New York. Galbraith explores the couplings between art, music, technology and the body through his installations, compositions, sound works, and performances featuring live electronics. His custom software for real-time sound and image has been a primary creative tool since 2006. Galbraith has performed at Roulette, The Stone, Judson Memorial Church, Pianos, Diapason Sound Art Gallery, Staatsbank Berlin, and the Pro Musica Nova Festival in Bremen, Germany among other venues.
In 2016 Galbraith launched lgOpre, an app for creating animated grids of visual music. Galbraith’s work has been presented internationally at P.S.1/MoMA, KW Institute of Contemporary Art (Berlin), the New Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Museum of Arts and Design, Harvestworks among others.
Preview excerpt from Density, a single-channel video of abstract animation with stereo sound.
https://youtu.be/8eW5x3fwDzc
David Galbraith: “John Cage Reflections” interview and DJ set
https://wavefarm.org/archive/6k6hyg