Kai Luen Liang

MFA 2 - Music

Flag ASMR

“On Sept 11th, 2001 I watched the twin towers falling with my father. Glued to the TV. A silent demolition. An American reality TV show. In the weeks that followed, I started to see American flags everywhere. Especially from immigrants of all colors, flying the flag out of a sense of fear of appearing to be on the wrong side.

The sound of the twin towers falling in my memory is silent. Filmed from far away. As the second plane hit, there was no sound on TV. I heard the sound via the sound of my own heart beating and the breath of the newscaster trying to be as professional as possible as they had to report a major catastrophe in real time, live in front of the world.

Flag ASMR is the attempt to recall a memory. An attempt to close a schism caused by a fear of the lines people cross and the fears of uncertainty, harm, and danger. What is the sound of a silent memory. The sound of it being touched, taken apart, and reordered.”

Redefining Boundaries

Building new systems, setting new parameters. Boundaries are constantly defined and redefined. An experiment in generative systems, generative image/ film and sound relationships. Exploring mutual relationships/ co-habitations of sonic and visual digital spaces.

Manufacturing Landscapes

*** warning: Contains strong flashing lights….

Manufacturing Landscapes:

A short film investigating the metaphors of vision used in surveillance hardware brand videos. Uses various Generative Adversarial Networks(GAN)/ machine learning image synthesis techniques to generate material related to vision and changing landscapes. Also looks at word associations with images by using text descriptions to generate images. The images generated were then used as “found footage” for the film.

Eric Lennartson

A laser pointer is pointed at a mirror attached to a balloon. Sounds from a synthesizer vibrate the balloon, causing the mirror to move. This moves the laser pointer, resulting in the visualization of how the sound causes the balloon to vibrate. The images produced from this process are called lissajous figures. The improvisation explores […]

Usha Venkat

Radical Practice Radical Practice is a series of podcast conversations between CalArts Graphic Design Program alumnae and current students. Each episode features an alumna with a distinct professional practice, including BFAs and MFAs whose endeavors range from cultural to corporate and from singular enterprises to ambitious ideas. We’ll discuss how they have defined success for […]

Gabriela Padilla

TW/CW: abuse, violence, suicide This song is about overcoming depression and suicide awareness through hope.  

Kathleen Fox

Don't Let Me Be Lonely Don’t Let Me Be Lonely is an architectural projection performance inspired by Claudia Rankine’s book of poems of the same name. The projection mapping explores loneliness as it exists at CalArts both before and during the COVID19 Crisis. Rankine defines loneliness as “What we cannot do for each other.” This […]

Vanessa Kwan

Ernestine and Delilah Ernestine and Delilah navigate their love in an apocalyptic world. Collaborators: Claire Brnjac https://vanessakwan.art/

Max Jaffe

The SOFT Glass “The S.O.F.T. (Sonification Of Flowing Temporality) Glass is an hourglass that makes and manipulates sound. In its final form, it will be a sculptural object that can double as a musical instrument, based on the simple and enduring timekeeping device dating back at least to the 16th century BC. Utilizing a variety […]

Emiliano Aguirre

Tsar's Special Delivery Many years ago (a score or so) in an alternate America full of pastel colors, a state-sanctioned courier delivers a small jar of caviar.