About Carsten Nicolai-Carsten Nicolai, born 1965 in karl-marx-stadt, is part of an artist generation who works intensively in the transitional area between art and science. as a visual artist nicolai seeks to overcome the separation of the art forms and genres by trying to endeavor a holistic artistic approach. thus he seeks to overcome the separation of the sensual perceptions of man, e.g. by making sound and light frequencies perceivable for both eyes and ears to sensitise the viewer to the connection of the different sensory levels. further aspects of his works consider the integration of error and chance as well as the implementation of mathematical, physical or natural phenomenons and theories. special interest he also puts on so-called self-organizing processes, for example the growing of snow crystals. “in my opinion the emphasis of self-generating processes is a reaction to the claim to plan everything. many of my works underlie a rule and introduce a model as organizing scheme to recognize chaotic movements. i am interested in both moments, they lie really close together. (...) the article active mutations of self-reproducing networks, machines and tapes (1996) by takashi ikegami and takashi hashimoto had a major impact on my work. they wrote about loop structures and self-organisation. loops get created by mathematical processes whose results at the same time are the source for new calculations. by constant re-calculating mistakes occur, build up changing patterns and become the origin of new intelligent processes.” (cn) after his participation in important international exhibitions like “documenta x” and the “49th and 50th venice biennial”, nicolai’s works were shown in two comprehensive solo exhibitions at schirn kunsthalle frankfurt, germany (anti reflex) and at neue nationalgalerie in berlin, germany (syn chron) in 2005. in 2007 he had further extensive shows in zurich and new york. for several years now carsten nicolai experiments with sound under the pseudonym noto to create his own code of signs, acoustic and visual symbols. as alva

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noto he leads those experiments into the field of electronic music. besides performing in club and concert halls, nicolai also presented his audio-visual pieces at museums like solomon r. guggenheim museum in new york, san francisco museum of modern art, centre pompidou in paris, kunsthaus graz or tate modern in london. additionally he pursues projects with diverse artists such as ryuichi sakamoto, ryoji ikeda (cyclo.), blixa bargeld, michael nyman, mika vainio or thomas knak (opto).

Carsten Nicolai’s Work-

Rota-rota is a stainless steel rotating cylinder with perferations making a specially designed structure of contracted and warped honeycombs. in it, it is supposed to unite scientific research and artistic production.It is an experiment of the effects of audiovisual stimulation on human perception. A bright cold light shines from inside through the perforated holes, which by the rotation of the cylinder causes a stroboscopic visual effect. depending on the rotation speed changing frequencies of flickering light impulses occur, which are also transformed into sound that can be heard as impulse rhythm in the space. According to scientific research these impulses may have a direct effect on the brain waves of the spectator causing a neural feedback. The light impulse frequencies can simulate different conditions of mental condition like trance, meditation, relaxation or stress thus possibly provoking states of concentration, creativity or neural reorganisation.

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Snow noise-Snow Noise is a very unique instalation and it is also interactive to create snowflakes and watch them being formed would be amazing and he made it an instalation for people to see and to do it themselves.

“... to imagine an individual soul in each and any starlet of snow is utterly absurd, and therefore the shapes of snowflakes can by no means be deduced from the operation of a soul in the same way as in plants.” - johannes kepler, 1611.

On entering the laboratory-like space, visitors are invited to initiate the process of growing a snow crystal. cooling units provide the opportunity to cool down specially prepared glass cylinders to a temperature of minus 25 degree celsius. only a few minutes after the glass has been placed into the cooling unit the formation of simple snow crystal structures can be observed. in the course of time, increasingly complex structures develop, none of which repeat. a systematic survey of the tremendous variety of snow crystals in the form of a diagram helps the visitor to identify individual crystal structures. through a very subtle light and sound design snow noise is centring on micro- structures shifting the focus of our perception.

Telefunken-The audio signal of a cd player is connected to the video input of a television. the audio tracks of the cd − impulse frequencies and various test sounds − are translated by the television into an abstract image, interpreting the impulse frequencies as horizontal stripes on the television screen. the respective intervals or the width of the impulse correspond with the density or width of the line of the image on the screen. this installation instantaneously demonstrates the visualization of acoustic material.

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Milch-The basis of milch (milk) is a series of experiments, which examine the relationship between order and disorder by means of a surface of liquid that is under the influence of different frequency-oscillations. in the test series, milk was exposed to sinus waves ranging from 10 to 150 hz. sound, almost imperceptible to the ear, appears in this test series as a permanently moving visual structure. herein the direct interrelation between acoustic signals and visual patterns becomes visible. lower frequencies make liquids start to move. dependent on the frequency, different patterns of movement appear. this complex phenomenon causes an interaction of regular and chaotic patterns that can also be compared with acoustic signal interference in a three-dimensional space.

For experimentatin I tried to recreate in a small way a couple of Carsten Nicolai’s Peices of work. I began with Milch i wanted to recreate what Carsten Nicholai did using frequency’s to make the particals react and patterns appear. I first did this with a solid thing, sand would probably have worked best but i didnt have any so i used couscous instead. I got some reaction with the cous cous but it was more of a movement away from the center creating an empty space there.

I then tried with milk hoping to get a better reaction with a liquid, however it didnt react at all, I think it is because my amp was not powerful enough to generate a strong enough frequency to effect it. Other members of my group for this project did the same experiment and theirs was more sucsessful so I’m using an image from theirs not mine.

Experimentation

I then tried to recreate telefunken on a very small scale. I had to use a scart adaptor because the tv I used does not have a VGA input and i dont know if this will have affected the experiment at all because this was again not very effective although I did get a very small amount of interfearance which you can see in this image.

For the creative artifact I did a website, first I mapped out my interests and then Carsten Nicolais and then I mapped between my work and carsten nicolai’s so that the website tied in with becomming carsten nicolai. Once I had done this I started to plan the website’s visuals and how I was going to create it and then started to put it together.

Creative Artifact

http://www.carstennicolai.de/?c=biography

Bibliography