ArtMusic – A Thesis Proposal

Robert Dawson

Introduction to Project Management

Teah Graham King

Cal State East Bay

Spring 2007

 

Abstract

This paper describes a thesis proposal to create a project that answers a research question addressing the possibility of cross-medium conversion. Included in this paper are a description of the project, a description of the project’s content, an explanation of the project, a justification of its target audience, and, finally, a statement supporting the project’s realizability.

Table of Contents

1. Project Description

2. Content Description

3. The Project Explanation

4. Audience Justification

5. Realizability

6. References

I. Project Description

A. Thesis Question

Is it possible to objectively convert art into music and, conversely, music into art?

B. Project Summary

I propose to create an interactive computer application that converts music into art and art into music. This conversion occurs via an objective analysis of each medium. This analysis involves a set of associations that correlate physical and logical properties of each medium with the other.

C. Project Components

The application itself is composed of three components. The first is the structural and functional core of the application. This core component manages the art-music conversion process, making it available to the other two components for storage, organization, and presentation. It is included in the other two components to enable independent operation with complete functionality.

The second component is a Web-based sub-application. This component uses the first component to convert files. It interacts with the first component to store, organize, and present conversion results to users. It also interacts with the third component to synchronize files.

The third component is a desktop-based sub-application. Like the second component, this component uses the first component to convert files and interacts with the first component to store, organize, and present conversion results to users. It interacts with the first component to synchronize files.

II. Content Description

A. The Subject

This project explores the possibility of what is essentially a lossless, but also perceptually coherent, conversion between music and art. This project more generally asks, Is possible to transform one artistic creation into another while retaining the creative intent of the original creation?

Such conversion need not be confined to music and art. Hypothetically, any artistic medium can be converted to any other. However, for the purpose of testing this hypothesis, this project confines its media to strictly music and art.

B. The Story

From where does artistic inspiration arise? Suggestions leap to mind. These include beautiful scenery, strong emotional experiences, story illustrations, and even political and religious convictions. (Hirsch, 2003; Zilczer, 1987)

Another source of artistic inspiration is music. (Smoje, 2004) This raises the question of how the music that an artist hears while creating a work of art inspires the outcome of that work. For example, imagine an abstract painting hanging in a museum. How would this painting differ if its creator had been inspired by the music of, say, Johann Sebastian Bach instead of Guns N’ Roses? Would its colors have been less rich or varied in line quality? Would it have been more representational or, perhaps, not abstract at all as the term is traditionally defined? Would it have even existed? Furthermore, supposing it would have existed, would it have been completed? Finally, assuming this is true, would it have been nearly as visually appealing?

Now, switch focus and imagine a reverse scenario in which a musician composes a song while sitting across from a large painting. Suppose that this painting contains a large, thick swash of red paint placed diagonally against a stark white background. To clarify, suppose, further, that a classic portrait of a house member hangs next to the painting, such that the emotional contrast created between the two pictures seems almost as disturbing as the painting itself.

In this scenario, the emotional effects of visual elements and their relationships, like color contrast and form dynamics, can almost certainly be expected to affect the musician’s final composition. Had only one or neither of the two pictures been observed, it is reasonable to anticipate that a different composition would have resulted.

The dual influence of music on art and art on music suggests that the two mediums share a common artistic thread, as it were, that in a sense they speak a common language, which speaks to artists and observers, alike, on both emotional and intellectual levels. It is this commonality that prompts one to ask, If they speak the same language, then should they not also be able to speak to one another?

Moreover, if they can speak to one another, and if artists can understand this form of communication, then might not their understanding lead to more engaging and profound works of art? The goal of this project is to provide artists and musicians with a tool enabling them to experience their works from a sensorially separate, but informationally identical, perspective.

III. The Project Explanation

A. Conversion Criteria

The core component of this project converts between art and music via a set of interlocking algorithms. Therefore, it is essential that the art-music conversion is researched and defined. To ensure an objective conversion, three criteria for developing this component are given as follows:

• It must be factual. An objective conversion between media types must be based on factual data, not opinion. Central to this proposal’s thesis question is how to map art to music and back.

• It must bridge space and time. Music seems inherently temporal and art seems inherently spatial. Yet, music and art are defined by human experience, and humans perceive space with time, together.

• It must stay coherent. Converted media must remain coherent to their respective audiences. Coherence here refers to "a logical, orderly, and aesthetically consistent relationship of parts." (Coherence, n.d.) Aesthetic consistency, a subjective appraisal, is foreseen as the most challenging criterion.

B. Objectivity

This project seeks to determine if music and art can be converted between one another such that a converted product can be reconverted back to its original form without loss of information. For example, if a user uploads a music file and converts it into a digital painting, then he or she should be able to reconvert the digital painting back into an exact copy of the original music file. It is worth noting that exactitude in this context does not mean an approximate representation of content, but, rather, an exact reassembly of the content’s underlying file structure. An approximate representation of content is here identified as a soft conversion, while an exact reassembly of the content’s underlying file structure is here identified as a hard conversion.

A hard conversion implies no structural difference between an original file and a reconverted one. It follows, then, that a converted file, while differently presented, is identical in information content. A hard conversion is here identified as an objective conversion. Figures 1 and 2 provide a rudimentary basis for this attempt and are meant to be representative of possible factor correlations.

C. The User Experience

As mentioned above, this project is a hybrid Web/desktop application that works both online and offline. The Web component of this application is accessed through a central website, which enables users to manage and share their files with visitors of this website. This allows users to upload and download files as well as to convert, experience, and save their creations without having to leave their Web browser. For example, a user can upload a music file to the application, ask the application to convert that file into a corresponding work of visual art, and the result is saved in that user’s account for immediate or future viewing.

The desktop component of this application is accessed within a single computer. This component is downloaded, installed, and run like any other desktop application. The purpose of this component is twofold. First, it allows users to convert files without needing an Internet connection. Second, like the Web component, it allows users to synchronize their files to their account online so that they can choose to either work with those same file online at a later time or, alternatively, download them to another computer. For example, a user can work with a set of files on his or her home computer, synchronize with the Web component, and then download and access those files from a friend’s computer.

Having the ability to work both online and offline affords users the opportunity to collaborate with one another should they choose to do so. As mentioned, the core, processing component is included in the other two components, which enables the other two components to each operate independently with complete functionality.

D. Required End-User Technologies

For end-users, a small number of hardware and software technologies are required to use the application. With regard to hardware, the only required technologies are a personal computer, a monitor, and a modem. Required software includes an operating system, a Web browser, and a browser plugin. Most operating systems, such as Windows XP, Mac OSX, or, potentially, Unix or Linux systems, like Ubuntu, should suffice. Likewise, most Web browsers, such as Mozilla’s Firefox, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, and Apple’s Safari, can handle this project’s application. Finally, a browser plugin, Flash Player 9, is required.

E. Required Project Development Technologies

To develop this project’s application, several technologies are available for consideration. Hardware requirements are minimal and are, in fact, identical to those of end-users. The software development environment for this project requires several desktop applications. The most important of these are

• Adobe Flex 2 and

• Adobe Apollo.
  

Flex 2 enables the Web component and Apollo enables the desktop component. In addition, one of the following software-based technologies are integral to this project’s success. These include

• Ruby on Rails,

• Python,

• PHP,

• MySQL or PostgreSQL,

• XML,

• XHTML,

• ActionScript 3.0,

• JavaScript,

• CSS, and,

• potentially, X3D.
  

F. State of the Art-Music Conversion Attempt

An important question that must be answered before this project can be researched and subsequently developed is where it stands relative to historical efforts in the same area of investigation. For instance, what is the history of art-music conversion and are there any active projects attempting the same goal?

A fascination with conversion between different forms of art can be seen all the way back to the ancient Greeks. (Synesthesia, 2007) Later, Isaac Newton attempted to correspond light waves to sound waves by matching perceived light separations to seven discrete notes of an octave. (Synesthesia, 2007)

In 1743, the color organ was invented in France by a Jesuit priest and mathematician named Louis-Bertrand Castel. (Collopy, 2006; Synesthesia, 2007) The color organ gained international recognition and prompted the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin to formulate his theory to the effect that certain notes, when coupled with their correct corresponding colors, invoke strong psychological reactions. (Synesthesia, 2007) Then, in the early 20^th century, Wassily Kandinsky, a well-known Russian painter, developed his theory of conversion between different forms of art, using synesthesia as a guide. (Synesthesia, 2007)

Interest in art-music conversion resumed in the 1960s with the advent of the art movement known as Fluxus. (Intermedia, 2007) Fluxus created the concept of intermedia, which was defined as art that explored new territory by crossing genres. (Intermedia, 2007) the impetus for Fluxus was in large part a desire to revitalize and redefine boundaries separating traditional art forms, like painting and sculpture.

Heavily influenced by intermedia and Fluxus is another concept known as visual music, alternately called “color music.” (Visual music, 2007) Visual music can be defined either conservatively as the use of musical symbols in visual imagery or more liberally as the translation of music into painting. (Visual music, 2007) Several projects aiming at intermedia conversion have been established since the early 17^th century, one of which is mentioned above. (Collopy, 2006)

Current investigation suggests that no comprehensive, objectively defined conversion attempt has been made to date. This is not so much a claim of fact as a probable admission of ignorance, given the popularity of the topic. Yet, because a satisfactory solution has not been noted, the central question of this project remains unanswered and ripe for further investigation.

IV. Audience Justification

The primary audience for this proposal is artists and musicians who want to enhance their creativity by experiencing their respective creations in a different medium. While age is less important of a consideration than, say, talent or drive, it is assumed that at least moderate musicianship or artistry is needed to maintain an interest in exploring this project. Given this, it seems fairly likely that most of the audience for this project would fall between the ages of 25 and 40.

Artists and musicians will benefit from the outcome of this research project in several ways, including:

• develop deeper awareness of their work’s meaning,

• learn how it functions in, and responds to, a different sensory environment, and

• expand their creative potential in developing more sensorially diverse and compelling works.

V. Realizability

A. Factors for Success

The success of this project can be assured, provided that detailed and comprehensive documentation is written before initial project development, requested resources are provided, budgetary constraints are upheld, and feature creep is avoided. These factors hint at the project development process, which is outlined as follows.

Task	Quarter
Research	Fall 2007
Documentation (requirements, due dates, project flow, features)
Mockups
Interactive Prototype	Winter 2008
50% Feature-complete
100% Feature-complete	Spring 2008
Usability Testing
Refactorization

B. Budget

The following table provides a cost analysis per item for each item that is either required for, or foreseeably useful in, the development of this project. Note that each cost includes an educational discount. Required items are highlighted for clarity.

Item	Cost
Adobe Flex 2	$99
Adobe Apollo	N/A
Ruby on Rails	N/A
Python	N/A
PHP	N/A
MySQL or PostgreSQL	N/A

Figures

Figure 1

 

Figure 2

Figure 3

Note: C is “middle C.”

 

 

Coherence. (n.d.). The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
Retrieved April 15, 2007, from Answers.com Web site: http://www.answers.com/topic/coherence.

Collopy, Fred. (2006). Timeline. Retrieved April 21, 2007, from

http://rhythmiclight.com/archives/timeline.html.

Hirsch, Edward. (2003). The Demon and the Angel: Searching for the Source of Artistic Inspiration.

Harvest Books. Harcourt, Inc. Orlando, Florida.

Intermedia. (2007). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 21, 2007,

from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Intermedia&oldid=124668733.

Smoje, Dujka. (2004). “Colors of Bach’s Music: Farbsymphonien in Jakob Weder’s Painting”.

University of Montreal. Retrieved May 7, 2007, from http://web.gc.cuny.edu/rcmi/Smoje.pdf.

Synesthesia in art. (2007). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 21, 2007,

from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Synesthesia_in_art&oldid=120828851.

Visual music. (2007). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 21, 2007,

from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Visual_music&oldid=122843272.

Zilczer, Judith. (1987). "Color Music": Synaesthesia and Nineteenth-Century Sources for Abstract Art”.

Artibus et Historiae, Vol. 8, No. 16 (1987), pp. 101-126.