Description
At the core of “Quiet Loud” lies the idea of reducing the complexity of the world into two fluid poles – opposing yet interdependent forces that together create the order of things. This is a way of thinking already present in the oldest philosophies, such as Taoism.
The second thread concerns the agency of noise – sound that can disrupt and purify, while also being an act of defiance against an excess of forms and conventions.
It is a reminder that in the world – and in art – silence and clamor are equally necessary to maintain balance
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The work explores the tension between opposing yet complementary phenomena – silence and noise, calm and energy. At its core lies the idea of reducing the world’s complexity into two fluid poles – a way of thinking already present in the oldest philosophies, such as Taoism.
“Quiet Loud” also emphasizes the agency of noise: a sound capable of disrupting, purifying, and liberating art from an excess of forms and conventions, reminding us that both silence and clamor are equally necessary to maintain balance. It tackles two main themes: the coexistence of polar opposites and mutually complementary forces (such as silence/noise, light/darkness, etc.) and the agency and aesthetic power of noise, clamor, and deafening hum.
Reducing the inter-dependencies of a myriad of phenomena to a not simply binary but bipolar and fluid primary duality has a long history, dating back at least to the origins of Taoism. The power of noise in art is both a power of dissent and an emanation of unrecognized phenomena or a pure manifestation of personal existence, as well as a recurring conscious strategy for cleansing the space of the arts from the sediment of snobbery, excessive decorativeness, and all kinds of surplus and mannerism.
Technical documentation
Parameters passed via URL
- audio 0 or 1; default 1; disables/enables sound level detection from the microphone
- bgl background color of the “loud” section in standard hexadecimal notation 0xRRGGBB
- bgs background color of the “quiet” section in standard hexadecimal notation 0xRRGGBB
- fntl font name used for the “loud” section description
- fnts font name used for the “quiet” section description
- gui 0 or 1; default 1; hides/shows the graphical user interface panel
- lang en or pl; default en; sets the interface language (additional languages can be added)
- midiinport disabled by default; MIDI port number for external control of Miniature
- mode 0, 1, 2, or 3; default 0; switches animation orientation ([0] bottom-top, [1] top-bottom, [2] left-right, [3] right-left)
- padding default 1.0; sets the distance between text boundaries and its surroundings
- pointer 0 or 1; default 1; hides/shows the mouse cursor
- smooth 0.0 … 1.0; sets the initial degree of animation smoothing (position of the “smooth” slider in the menu)
- stll normal | bold | italic | bolditalic; decoration of the font used for the “loud” section description
- stls normal | bold | italic | bolditalic; decoration of the font used for the “quiet” section description
- txtl text color of the “loud” section in standard hexadecimal notation 0xRRGGBB
- txts text color of the “quiet” section in standard hexadecimal notation 0xRRGGBB
- vol 0.0 … 1.0; sets the initial microphone volume level (position of the “vol” slider in the menu)
- words word1|word2; words separated by the | (vertical bar) character describing the “quiet” and “loud” sections, e.g., “quiet|loud”, “light|dark”
- worker 0 or 1; default 0; allows blocking the browser’s built-in mechanisms that suspend the program when the window is not visible
- ws address; disabled by default; enables and sets the address (usually localhost:9001) for WebSocket communication (allows external control of Miniature and customization)
- xws address; disabled by default; enables and sets the address (usually ws://localhost:9001) with protocol specification for WebSocket communication (allows external control of Miniature and customization)
Messages passed via WebSocket
Messages to which Miniature responds
- vol 0.0 … 1.0; sets the presence level of the “loud” component
Messages sent by Miniature
not applicable
MIDI
Messages to which Miniature responds
- any Note Off message on any channel sets the presence level of the “loud” component to zero
- velocity of any Note On message on any channel sets the presence level of the “loud” component
- value of any CC message on any channel sets the presence level of the “loud” component
Messages sent by Miniature
not applicable
Communication with MaxMSP
Messages to which Miniature responds
not applicable
Messages sent by Miniature
not applicable