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ARTIST
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ARTIST
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Artist Statement
Data. Information. Noise. It is everywhere; simple to create and difficult to control.
It can take a multitude of shapes, forms, and realizations, causing both action and
reaction. This is the medium I work with, and the materials that I mould; not because
I chose it, but because it chose me.
Studying as a Computer Engineer at the University of British Columbia, programming proved
to be a fascinating field of study, along with operating systems and mathematics.
Although I was prevented by the department from taking any music courses, I was always
drawn to the side of programming that is less known to most; that of the generative or
data producing program. Such programs can be used to create audio, video and static images,
and are much more interesting to spend time developing than your average commercial software
application. My studies over the years since leaving that field have brought me to many
somewhat disparate fields that my degree sorely missed: philosophy, linguistics, religion,
and of course, music.
My work is a combination of raw material generated by computer programs, combined with
the element of human composition and critisism, creating pieces that appeal to those
that seek the unique and unknown. My work does not start with specific results in mind; I
find the prospect of the infinite possibility that the end piece may take much more
appealing than the fight to create a perfect rendition of a song in my head. Like
'finding' rather than rendering, this causes the artistic process to become a search,
not unlike a game, with the correct combination of parameters, knowledge and luck being
the codes to unlock the hidden secrets.
Many of my programs are based on random numbers, filtered specifically to my purposes,
and as such, no two runs of each program are exactly alike. Much like the artist that
must be recorded in a studio, my computer is my performer. Some takes may be perfect,
some abysmal, and most are just lost in time when the record button has not been hit.
Like a producer, I dream of catching that moment where everything comes together and
that perfect track is laid, so that it can be shared with others.
The search for originality has lead me to use the computer as my tool in my search.
The computer has no sense, no culturally imposed restrictions on it's output or behavior,
no embarrassment of a wrong note, no feelings about performance. It just does and
hence becomes an enhancing tool to my own creativity. I have an idea for a song, I
write a generative soul using programming languages, give it sounds with samples or
synthesis. The writing of notes has been done for as long as musical notion has been
around; I don't have the patience to write them all, even if I had to training to do so.
John Cage once said that in the future we will not listen to recordings, but programs
that generate the music in the style that we wish to hear. I am attempting to realize
that dream, if only because that is something that I dream of having.
--
Burton Samograd aka kruhft
2023 Circe 2008