The creation of meta non-verbal narration through the exploration of the semantics of the physical world has emerged as a prevalent theme in contemporary art projects. This is achieved either through digital simulations of atmospheric physics, by encouraging interaction with atmospheric elements in the real world, or by liquids motion visualisation with the particles, from which emerge shapes generated by AI or EEG devices.
The project “Interlace” aims to design a transitional space that bridges the aesthetics of modern art exhibitions, with interactive VR technology, creating an interactive art space guided by the logic of music form development.
The objective was practically realised by taking an existing 2D digital artwork “Carnaval of Colour” created by Terry Trickett to the music from my piano album “Colours” and transforming it to an interactive VR experience. Current iteration of the project features the first visualisation “Interlace”.
This project draws inspiration from the concept of volumetric music composition, where the music composition’s nodes are accessible for user interaction in a non-linear fashion. An experiment with users indicated that while interactivity in VR was highly valued, it was not universally desired. For instance, the necessity to interact with the spheres, representing the stages of music form development to trigger the sound, was found by some users as disrupting music immersion. Hence, in the current interaction design we left the possibility to choose the level of engagement with the VR environment, without disrupting musical flow.
The work was showcased at EVA London 2024, organised by British Computer Arts Society and “Soeurs Jumelles 2024” music festival in Rochefort (France).
Music and code by Anna Shvets.
The link to a video captured from the VR headset: https://youtu.be/9HIckVWej7g