Response 3

For this last reading I chose to talk about Messa di Voce. It caught my eye when we saw a bit of it in class. The interactivity is two-fold and complex. The first takes vocalizations from a person and transfers that into a graphic form. Once the graphic form is displayed, the vocalization used to make that graphic is saved. This leads to the second bit of the interactivity. The graphics can then be selected and manipulated to replay the sound that created it. This can lead to some very interesting performance art.

Messa di Voce uses software that integrates speech analysis and real-time video camera tracking. Things recorded are then projected on screens behind the performers. Tracking allows for the visualization to appear to be coming from the heads of the performers.

The previously mentioned technology, in the form of the software that allows for the interactivity, is used almost solely to enhance the performance and help visualize the possible meanings. As I have stated before, I believe meaning in art is subjective and based on the reactions of the observer. An artist can help try and “push” the observer in a direction using a variety of stimuli.

“Messa di Voce lies at an intersection of human and technological performance extremes, melding the unpredictable spontaneity and extended vocal techniques of two master composer-improvisers with the latest in computer vision and speech analysis technologies. Utterly wordless, yet profoundly verbal, Messa di Voce is designed to provoke questions about the meaning and effects of speech sounds, speech acts, and the immersive environment of language.”

Above is the purpose of Messa di Voce. I feel it is hard to describe the artist’s voice in this which is ironic since the piece is all about placing voice and making it visible for all the world to see. Especially within this piece, the voice can belong to a couple different groups. While Golan Levin and Zach Lieberman helped to make the software and allowed for a certain number of possibilities based on what they wanted to happen, Jaap Blonk, Joan La Barbara and any other vocalist that may perform have their own vision and voice for a performance.