Bach's Touch, 2013

Bach’s Touch is a Kinetic-Audio-Tactile work of art. This art form draws primarily on the engagement of three senses simultaneously: One must listen to the piece while exploring it with the eyes and hands. The three sensory experiences are derived from a piece of music: J. S. Bach’s Invention 13. It’s a two part invention, with the music played by the artist on guitar, bass, and electronic drums. The tactile experience is explicitly designed, not generated. An Arduino Mega (and all the available code space) was used to craft the tactile experience by creating a midi interpretation, then deconstructing it into rhythmic timing for the set of four solenoids you see to fire in rhythm with the music. This piece is fundamentally a tactile work of art. Everything about this art piece is intended to support the design of how the “tactors” (solenoid actuators in this case) follow the ebb and flow of the melody as it cascades up and down. The intent is to interpret a musical experience that spans tens of different notes into an experience on just four fingers that can stand on it’s own as a piece of art. The tactile experience, when combined with the musical experience and the visual experience, creates something bigger, but none take away from the others.

Video Description:

This video shows a square art piece with a person's hand above it. Small, blue, finger sized cylinders are shown actuating up and down with the rhythm of the music. The hand is shown repeatedly being placed on the arc of four cylinders to feel them actuating. A side view of the piece shows the circuit boards, wires, and LEDs that come together to create the experience.