Hypo Chrysos
2011, 2012 | Action art for vexed body and biophysical media (Xth Sense technology)
Hypo Chrysos (Marco Donnarumma, 2011) is a work that exasperates the viscerality of the body system, so to critically explore the territory in between biosciences, technology and performance art.
The piece is based on the Xth Sense, named the 2012 “world’s most innovative new musical instrument” by the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology (US).
This live audiovisual piece is freely inspired by the sixth Bolgia of Dante’s Inferno, located in one of the lowest of the circles of hell. Here the poet encounters the hypocrites walking along wearing gilded cloacks filled with lead; for Dante this was the punishment for the falsity hidden behind their behaviour, a malicious use of reason which is unique to human beings.
Pulling with my arms large ropes tied to concrete blocks, I struggle to walk along the stage. I can only walk in circle, I cannot give up until the action is completed.
The friction of human muscle tissues, and blood palpitations produce a biophysical signal in the form of an acoustic sound waves. The sounds of my muscle, heart and blood, normally inaudible to human ears, are captured and amplified through the Xth Sense wearable sensors (XS). A computer stores and accumulates those sonic pulses, computing an endlessly growing wall of sound that emerges from an octophonic array of loudspeakers. When the sonic vibrations of my inner body become tangible sound, they breach into the outer world, thus reaching and affecting the bodies of the audience. At the same time, the biosignal is used to create a swarm of virtual entities, lights and organic forms diffused by a video projector; a window into the subcutaneous flesh tissues of the vexed body. The raging clusters of sound and light emanated by my body give rise to an impactive and unstable force field of tension.
This work does not make use of computer vision, other motion tracking devices or proprietary hardware. All sonic and video material is generated in real time by the performer’s body using the XS, a free and open technology for musical performance and responsive milieux, developed by the author. See technical details below for further information.
The first version of Hypo Chrysos was premiered on 16th December 2011 at MADATAC Festival, in Madrid, Spain. MADATAC (Muestra de Artes Digitales Audiovisuales y Tecnologías Contemporáneas) is an innovative platform for the audiovisual culture and new experimental media.
This is the second work in a series of biomedia performances composed around the XS. You can learn more about the first piece of the series “Music for Flesh II” here.
Below you can view a live recording of the performance at Inspace, Edinburgh, UK, February 2012. An HD version lives at this link.
Hypo Chrysos | Action art for vexed body and biophysical media from Marco Donnarumma on Vimeo.
No commercial devices nor software were deployed in this work. The piece is based on the Xth Sense (XS) wearable technology. It consists of wearable biosensors and a digital framework for real-time processing of acoustic biosignals, both developed by the author. Muscle fibres and blood vessels produce subcutaneous mechanical oscillations (i.e. acoustic sounds). These are captured by the XS sensors and fed to a computer in real time. The machine deploys mathematical, evolutionary, and learning models so to become aware and interact with the muscular sound of the performer’s body (kinesis). During this two-way interaction the performer produces the sound material by contracting his limbs and the computer diffuse the processed sounds of the performer’s body through a variable array of loudspeakers. All sound and video manipulations, spatialization, rhythm and structure of the piece are defined in real time by the only physical behaviour of the artist on stage.
Additional Information
The use of open source technologies is an integral aspect of the research. The biosensing wearable device was designed and implemented by Marco Donnarumma, with the support of Andrea Donnarumma and Marianna Cozzolino. The Pure Data-based framework for real time analysis and processing of biological sounds was designed and coded by the author on a Linux machine, with inspiring advice by Martin Parker, Sean Williams, Owen Green, Jaime Oliver, and Andy Farnell.
Credits
Pictures courtesy of Chris Scott.
Heading images: stills from real time video.
Project Keywords
bio, biosensing technologies, body, MMG; resistance, friction, tension, augmented body, gesture, kinetic energy, performance art, theatrical performance; real time, audio processing, gesture tracking, pure data.
Hypo Chrysos Live at Trendelenburg A/V Festival, Gijon (ES), 2011