Iannis Zannos, Angelos Floros, Mariana T Kotsanou

Presented: inSonic 2020: Syntheses, ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, online, December 11-13, 2020 link

The work explores sound synthesis algorithms that use feedback of audio signals to produce rich sounds, driven by motion sensors worn by dancers.

Algorithmic sound of this kind responds unpredictably to shifts in its parameters, which is the difficulty and also the interest. Over a series of collaborative sessions the algorithm and its parameter mappings were adapted together, so that dancers could engage with the system meaningfully rather than merely trigger it.

What emerged is a reciprocal cycle. The dancer's interpretation shapes the sonic form; the sonic form shapes the next movement. And because the mapping can be divided, two performers can work on different aspects of a single sound-generating mechanism at the same time — one body inside the sound the other is making.

The Well Cradle takes its name from the Noh play Izutsu: the wooden frame around a well, and the surface that returns an image to whoever leans over it.