Opto-Phono-Kinesia (OPK)

Description

Opto-Phono-Kinesia (OPK) is a body-based audio-visual performance piece. The title is a play on the possible synaesthetic state involving connections between vision, sound and body motion. Theoretically, for a person who experiences this state, a specific colour could trigger both a sound (i.e. a particular note) and a body action (i.e. a flick of the hand).

OPK employs a simulation of synaesthesia as a model for matching movement to sound, light and image. Each sound placed in space is assigned a light effect and, at times, a specific video. Different notes of a melody or bass line are matched to specific light and/or video colours. New virtual rooms with related or different audio-visual-body mappings can be loaded at certain points.

In OPK, all audio-visuals are performed in virtual space through body movement. By moving the hands and the body, music, video, special effects, robot lights, and even a smoke machine can be brought to life as if by magic. Motion-tracking allows the performer to be a virtual conductor, conjuring an immersive environment with the body itself. Conceptually, OPK makes a case for physically-engaged interaction in response to much of present-day ‘lazy media’, while at the same time the piece subtly references possible damaging uses of those technologies.