Select Page

Forever weightless: Verk

Apr 5, 2011

With myself being held up with my exam project, it’s time to give heed to some other cats. I’ve been waiting to say a few words for a little while about one of Norways best rappers, and a man I get to call my friend; Verk.

Most rappers these days take the fastest train to club bangers and radio friendly hits(not necessarily a bad thing though), but Verk manages to stay clear of all the hubbub without sacrificing a thing. He’s been doing his thing uncompromisingly for soon a decade now (if my maths are still any good), and has become, I will say, a stellar poet. And after this years concert at By:larm, even more people have started to see what this guy is about.

Chance has it he’s playing a show this very Thursday at Victoria, with a pretty interesting band constellation, too. If you like the sounds and want to hear more, go give him a thumbs up on facebook.

Project update #3

Mar 26, 2011

This is an update for my degree project, due in early may. Read more about it here. Long story short, I’m making a visual system to augment, enhance and communicate the contents of an electronic music concert.

I’ve come up with a grid based on isometric geometry, that all the projections will emerge from. This grid begins in the physical space, based on two tables on the stage, and continues into the virtual space, projected onto the space behind the artist. To get a clearer idea, sit really close to the screen and stare at the above picture for a while.
Also, the concert is being played by the physical artist, who plays the “live” bits, and virtual artists, playing the pre-recorded parts. I’ve written a lot more about this subject here.

So, on to the fun stuff. Here is a test of having sound effecting objects:

And here’s me testing an intro for the whole thing, basically drawing up the grid part by part, albeit a bit hastily for the sake of the experiment:

Here is the music piece I will be using. It’s a version of one of my own track Three tails. The music is in no way the focus of the project, and I won’t be judged based on it at all. But it would be kind of silly with a silent concert, so this is the case I’m using.
Three tails BA edit (work in progress) by lysgaard sounds

Visually, these things are simple and banal, but in finished form and context, it will be smashing. At least in my head, it is.

Kokong Magazine release

Mar 20, 2011

I just got home from a great couple of days in Oslo, representing at the release of the third edition of Kokong, an illustration and literature magazine. The mag is made by Max Alexander Berg, Olav Starheimsæter, Kristian Haukland,
Marte Veys Berg and Natasha Lid Bjørdalsbakke, mostly coming from Westerdals school of communication in Oslo(if I’m not completely mistaken).

Max, one of the guys behind the magazine, approached me in a few months ago, the result of that conversation being a limited edition silk screened art print, included in every copy of the mag. The print is a variation on the ut å løpe theme, and fits neatly inside a pocket inside the magazine.
The whole publication is more a crazy experiment in package design and origami than an ordinary magazine, and a brilliantly executed and successful one at that, I’d say.

Other illustrators in the third edition includes talents such as Dan Stafford (did the cover), Ville Savimaa, Micah Lidberg, and Sergio Haisch. Words by  Kaja Svarva Denstad, Jo Fenne, Mathias R. Samuelsen, Ola Knoll Nielsen, Victoria Durnak, Andes Lunde, Jakob Skjelbred and Thomas J.R. Marthinsen.

The availability of the magazine is still a bit in the blue, I’ll update the post as we find out where you can actually get your hands on a copy.
EDIT: The magazine (all three editions) is now available in the store! I’m amazed it all worked out so smoothly, and I am delighted to see it in my virtual store shelves, it fits right in. Go have a look!

Project update #2

Mar 11, 2011

Here are some more of what I’m working on these days. If you’re new here, here’s a primer. I’m not going to say too much, here are some of my inspiration, this time from Oh land (thanks Mario):

 

Stay tuned.

Better looks in the store

Mar 8, 2011

Side note: I just beefed up the store a little, making the whole shopping experience a little nicer with better pictures and stuff. Go have a look, tell me what you think.

2011 calendar

Mar 7, 2011

At the end of last year, I figured I would like to try designing a calendar, thinking out a new way do lay out the year. My goal was to fit the whole year into a single page, without sacrificing too much readability or making you lose oversight.

With all that nice space available, it calls for some illustration, of course. In in my calendar, 2011 is the year of the octopus.
I only made about five of them, some of which are already gone. Since it was basically an experiment, I’m practically giving them away in the shop, if you would like one. Photos of the whole thing there, too.

Project sketches so far

Mar 6, 2011

I’ve gotten a bit further on my exam project. If you’re new here, you can read about it here.

I’ve tried mapping some simple knobs to the playhead position of a clip, thus visualizing the position of the knob:

But that stuff is easy, and doesn’t hold any conceptual significance. What’s more interesting is that I’ve come a long way towards figuring out how to make the performance more available to the audience, and visualize what is being played live and not. I’ve come to call it “virtual artists”, meaning that additional “band members”, playing the pre-arranged parts can be projected into the performance.

At first I had the idea of making the Virtual artists based on primitive shapes, or some kind of minimalist characters of some kind. But I’m afraid it would turn the whole project into a character building workshop, since making such figures emote can be really hard. Right now I’m working on projecting “copies” of the actual artist on stage, so you’ll have one physical and several other virtual copies of the same guy, playing as a band. So this way the virtual band members will be “playing the playback” very visually, instead of hiding it, enforcing transparency and honesty in the performance.
Additionally, the virtual band members themselves can be controlled just like the music, so, as an example, one parameter on some instrument can correspond to the head rotation of one of the projections. Or anything, really.

I spent some days experimenting with 3D, making objects that move around in space, trying to see how they could interact with the physical objects. But when you have the 3D-glasses on, everything that’s not 3D gets thrown out of whack, and it can be quite hard on the eyes at length. It’s also very dependent on the audience’s position in space, to draw the picture out correctly. So now I’m trying to find ways of getting a three-dimensional effect, without all the stereoscopic humbug.

Another element with the performance I’m trying to figure out, is the table. Most electronic instruments need to sit on a table in front of the artist, like a DJ. But this table creates a distance to the audience I really don’t like.
One idea I’ve had is to break up the table into smaller squares, to create space between them. Also, setting them up diagonally towards the audience makes them a passage, not a blockage.

Through the use of fancy lights, table parts can become “invisible” during the performance, shifting focus from one part to the other. So if one of the virtual band members are playing a really nice solo, I can shut out the entire rest of the “band” for a bit. This can be done either simply by muting the lights on areas, or by using some semi-transparent materials and such, combined with light sources inside the tables themselves.
The tables can also be used as direct interface elements in the music, using cameras and projectors together to make touch sensitive areas. This way the side of the table could become a big fader for example, or the square top can switch to become a X/Y-pad in a special breakdown.

The sky is really the limit here, since I’m only making a proof of concept, and don’t have to think about budgets too much. Implementing these ideas in an actual setting making it really interactive and not pre-rendered is only a matter of code though. After my exam, I would love to take this project further, to use it in an actual setting instead of it being mainly theoretical. So scalability is key here.

I have partnered up with Njål Paulsberg for the music, so I know I’ll have some awesome tunes to work with. You might know Njål from his solo act Njaal, his band project Put Your Hands Up For Neo-Tokyo, or as key member of the super-group Young Dreams.
We are now going through tons of his old song sketches, to find something to fit the project neatly. I’m telling you, he’s got some gold on that computer of his.

What I have outlined here is basically the framework for a performance. Going forward, I’ll be working more on the what, not the how.I can barely wait.

Thanks for reading! If this triggers anything in your own head, I’ll be thrilled to hear about them in the comments, don’t be afraid to share!

Stats show you are great

Mar 5, 2011

Side note: My website stats show that you guys are 50/50 between mac/pc, and only 10% use Internet Explorer.
That basically means you are all good people that will live long and happy lives. Yay!

On another tip; I have several big posts coming up in the coming days. Stay tuned!