Beating the auto switch off function?

It seems that a lot of televisions have a function that switches them off if they remain inactive in AV mode for to long, which is problematic considering that this is the manner in which they need to be set in order to function properly in this installation. I'm currently conducting an experiment involving running constant signal through the televisions to see if they still switch off... And two of them just did...

So I guess when i wake up i'll see what has happened to the rest of them. How I'm going to surmount this problem, I'm not quite sure. Maybe there is a simple way to stop this function, or maybe an electrician can disable it?

We'll see.

Audio

Here are some new audio files that I have been working on:

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Progress.

Now that I have collected all the material for the installation and have set it up in my studio at home progress has really begun. With the whole set up in my cramped studio I can now see how each different television reacts in slightly different ways to audio and the piece is taking shape.

Also it is interesting to note how each television really takes on its own sense of personality when it is subjected to different amplitudes.

Aesthetic

Heres a short film which gives you an idea of my original thoughts for the aesthetic of the installation.

Lots of Mismatched TVs

I've got around about six televisions stacked in my living room, all different shapes and sizes of second hand, AV input goodness. I've discovered that each different TV has a slightly different reaction to audio signals (something I should have expected I guess). However I can see this as adding to the aesthetic of the work. I now see my TVs as a dysfunctional and strange family, all speaking slightly different dialects in an attempt to communicate. As I begin to compose the piece i hope i will be able to express this to my audience.

Composition

A few short tests I ran demonstrated that while very interesting and dynamic effects can be achieved from the television, and that there are rules relating to amplitude, waveform and frequency, there is no sure fire way to predict the effects that the combination of all these factors will have. In order to work in an efficient manner I needed a way in which I could immediately see the effect of the music I was composing, especially because in this piece I am composing a light piece which uses music as a tool in is process. To achieve these aims I decided to insert a Television into the composition process, as well as the technical set up which I will be composing within, allowing me to immediately see the effect that my efforts would have on the static of the television. In this way I hope to make my composition process much more fluid, rather than composing, and then testing on the TV, and then composing again, the piece will evolve in a more logical fashion. Of course I must keep in mind the fact that I am composing for more than one Television (minimum six), however it would be impractical to attempt to include six tvs in my small home set-up so hopefully by keeping a detailed composition logbook I will be able to compose Music for all of the TV’s. 

Now all I need to do is amass a large collection of TVs and start composing the piece.

Light Filters?

I believe that the effect of the static, as well as the piece, is

 greatly enhanced by darkness and also through filtering, giving the static a much more interesting and blurred form. So to enhance the effect of the static there are two different paths that I could go down. I could either create a frame covered with white cloth or perspex (similar to some of Brian Eno’s installation work) that goes all the way around the television, creating a very ambiguous feel, or I could, perhaps using white paper, simply attach a square filter that would be placed only on the glass of the television screen. Which paths I go down depends on the final aesthetic affect that I wish to go for. Do I want the Television to become an ambiguous and mysterious source of light? Or to I want the television to be instantly recognizable to the viewer? I will probably test both methods and see which one is most effective in conjunction with the piece I will have created.

(this is a simple diagram of different light filtration methods)

Proposal

Concept

 

This proposal is all about Televisions and installation art.  The I plan to create installation is going to involve playing audio signals into the visual inputs of televisions. The reason that it will involve this is because in TVs of a certain vintage this produces lines of static which are actually created by the waveforms of the music. This means you get light that is synced perfectly to the music and completely changeable depending on what audio waveforms are in use and interacting with each other.

 

The general aesthetic idea is to create a darkened space in which the audience can witness the interaction of light as it plays from the televisions and spreads around the room, encountering and interacting with other waves of light produced by different televisions. While the aesthetic is simple, white light produced by the televisions in a otherwise completely dark room, I feel it is within its simplicity that the aesthetic gains much of its strength. Simple aesthetics that an audience can enjoy and connect to are often much more effective than complex and obscure ones. 

The light and sound present in this piece will obviously compliment each other due to the fact that they are inherently linked, as it is actually the sound that is creating the light. However I think it is very important to keep in mind that I am composing primarily for light, and that the sound is just a tool to create this light. This approach changes the work form being an installation with sound to a whole whose primary parts consist of light as it is created by sounds. In this way I hope to explore the interaction of sound as expressed through light.

Inspiration 

This idea came about as a result of my desire to create something tactile that an audience can view and even interact with in an exhibition space. While the digital media degree has taught me many useful skills I sometimes feel a bit depressed that my entire output can essentially be boiled down to a few files on an external hard-drive. With this in mind I sought to create something that would engage an audience while being conceptually interesting. 

I started out with a few naive ideas and a general plan to create an interactive installation. However as all my ideas stemmed from interactivity as a first thought they tended to be conceptually weak, obscure and boring. While I am still interested in interactive art I now think that interaction should not be the core concept of any artwork, rather a concept should involve something that will engage an audience and interaction can be added if it is necessary to the effect. 

I then began to simplify my ideas to that of playing with light, while still maintaining the use of music in order to utilize my skills in this area. Then I came across the fact that audio signals can be used to create static on the screens of televisions. With this in mind it became clear that simplicity was best and in this case interaction was certainly not needed. So the idea became manipulating several different sources of light using audio signals. 

Artists like Carsten Nicolai, who has completed similar works are also an inspiration.