Simul Sunder is an interactive audiovisual performance creating material out of media hosted on the internet. Created as a response to the seemingly endless consumption of online content due to the distancing measures brought by the 2020 pandemic, the installation creates ambient soundscapes and abstract visualisations by processing YouTube videos that explore themes of environmental conservation. During the live streamed performance, online audiences can interact with the piece by editing the YouTube playlist providing the system’s raw sonic and visual material, as well as by controlling the values of several system parameters through OSC interface apps (TouchOSC, Mrmr, OSC Controller, and so on). These parameters are connected to large-scale processes, with their effects on sound and image often manifesting much later in the performance.
This approach was implemented due to both practical and conceptual reasons; firstly, it circumvents the timing issues caused by latency in long-distance networks, an inherent challenge for real-time control of music performances; secondly, it serves as a metaphor for the impact humans have on the environment, both collectively and as individuals. Natural ecosystems comprise of multiple distinct organisms, who unbeknownst to them, have a direct effect on their cohabitants through the effects of their individual actions on the environment. Similarly, the open parameters of Simul Sunder are provided without instructions; instead, participants are invited to form their own subjective understandings of how their actions affect the audiovisual environment over longer “evolutionary” timeframes, and consequently, how they anonymously impact the other individuals sharing the same digital ecosystem.
Demonstration video – premiered at the Network Music Festival, July 2020
https://networkmusicfestival.org/programme/performances/manoli-moriaty-simul-sunder/
With thanks to Shelly Knotts and Charles Hutchins