World Science reports that musical genes may be coming to light. In their April 30, 2008 Special to World Science, they report on a first small study that suggests that musical ability is partly genetic and may share evolutionary roots with language. Finnish scientists say they’ve found “approximate locations in our genome where genes affecting musical talent may lie.” The study was made on 254 individuals from 15 Finnish families, all with some musical talent. It was published in the April 18 advance online issue of the Journal of Medical Genetics.

Symposium On Sound :: April 26 - 27, 2008 :: Exhibition: On the Sensations of Sound :: April 27 - June 29, 2008 :: Scheltema, Leiden (Netherlands).

On Saturday 26 April and Sunday 27 April 2008, the Veenfabriek and the Art History Department of Leiden University organise the Symposium On Sound. This symposium is a gathering of scientists, performers and artists, who will focus on the issue of mutual influence between art and science, more specifically with regard to sound. The exhibition On the Sensations of Sound, which is organised in cooperation with Museum De Lakenhal in Scheltema, will be opened during the symposium. Continue reading

A chapter on Live Audiovisuals written by Nick Collins and Amy Alexander appears in the recently released book, The Cambridge Companion to Electronic Music, edited by Nick Collins and Julio d’Escrivan.

The chapter discusses histories of audiovisual performance, including its ancestry in color organs, visual music filmmaking, light shows, cognitive science, and more - as well as various approaches to current practice including VJ’ing, live cinema, and digital media art performance. This one is not available online, but the book is available from the usual sources. Continue reading

Acoustic Space Issue # 7: SPECTROPIA - On Spectral Ecology and Art :: CALL FOR PAPERS - Deadline for abstracts - April 21, 2007 :: We are seeking manuscripts for the upcoming Acoustic Space journal to be published for the next Art+Communication Festival. Entitled SPECTROPIA, this year festival edition will take place in Riga, October 16 - 19, 2008.

The print journal, Acoustic Space is a forum for net.radio, sound art and creative explorations in the networked electro-acoustic environments. Now in its 7th edition, Acoustic Space - SPECTROPIA issue investigates the rapid transformation of the usage of the radio frequency spectrum that we are witnessing in the 21st century. Continue reading

Stéphan Barron developed the concept of Technoromanticism between 1991 and 1996 for his doctoral thesis at the University Paris VIII. He also developed the concept of Earth Art in his essay Poetry of Earth Art, reproduced here:

“Earth Art uses the planetary dimension of the earth as an artistic medium and was developed in this century as a corollary to the telecommunications revolution and to the globalization of all spheres of human activity. Earth art uses planet Earth as the raw material for emotional and introspective expression. Continue reading

Synapse: Collaboration between the arts and sciences has the potential to create new knowledge, ideas and processes beneficial to both fields. Artists and scientists approach creativity, exploration and research in different ways and from different perspectives; when working together they open up new ways of seeing, experiencing and interpreting the world around us. For the past decade, the Australian Network for Art & Technology (ANAT) has provided opportunities for artists and scientists to work together. Through Synapse, and in partnership with the Australia Council for the Arts, ANAT offers residencies, the Synapse Database and now ANAT is pleased to announce its latest initiative: a moderated elist discussion on contemporary art and science collaborations in fields including bioart, artificial intelligence, robotics, climate change and space, amongst others. You can subscribe here. Continue reading

Test_Lab: Multimodal - Featuring Arjen Mulder (NL), Sissel Tolaas (N), Tom Froese (UK), Graham Smith (CDN), Ulf Langheinrich (A), and Sietske Klooster (NL) :: February 21, 2008, 8:00 pm :: V2_ Institute for the Unstable Media, Eendrachtsstraat 10, 3012XL, Rotterdam :: Streamed live [Requires Real Player].

Although technological innovation in art and media has greatly enhanced the ways in which artworks can stimulate our senses, this innovation predominantly concerns the same few sensory modalities, and only rarely aims at supporting the integration between them. Recent artistic Research and Development (aRt&D) has, however, made great progress in developing methods for multimodal art; enhancing the sensorial richness of art and media experiences in integrated ways. Continue reading

According to a report from Kansas State University, the “sounds” of individual molecules have been captured.

Part of a graphical depiction of the mole­cular vibrations. (Courtesy Max Planck Inst. for Nuclear Physics)

The report, which can be found in the February 6, 2008 edition of World Science News, says that physicists have recorded “tiny vibrations of individual molecules, that could be called sounds.” Continue reading

Visit pank.tv (click on DNA)to see a video and hear the sonification of GENE - LUXR :: ORGANISM - VIBRIO :: FISCHERI TRANSLATION - CNA :: It’s a one-minute sample and quite beautiful.

According to the very limited information on the site, DNA, mRNA and Protein sequences are translated into MIDI to generate the sound and control the image variables in realtime. When presented in live performance a MIDI controller is used. The gene information and sequences are available here. Other audio samples are available here.

Andrea Polli is a digital media artist living in New York City. Her current works are hybrid (art/science) collaborations with atmospheric scientists to develop systems for understanding storm and climate data through sound - a process called sonification. Recent collaborations include: Atmospherics/Weather Works, a spatialized sonification of highly detailed models of storms that devastated the New York area; Heat and the Heartbeat of the City, a series of sonifications of actual and projected climate in Central Park, the heart of New York City and one of the world’s first locations for climate monitoring (a Turbulence Commission); and N., a real-time multi-channel sonification and visualization of weather in the Arctic. Continue reading