Contours and Coincidence
2021
David Stout
Contours and Coincidence is a generative exploration of bio-morphic forms found in the natural world. Contrasting bold graphic gestures with lilting lines and chaotic filigree, this work draws inspiration from the tradition of hand drawn experimental films. The music score eschews my typical use of image sonification and synthetic sound sources, instead the work consists entirely of sounds taken from short wave, FM and AM radio broadcasts. As such, it is both performative, in the sense of incorporating dial scanning between stations, while also being highly composed using carefully drawn envelopes to sculpt each audible moment. Computational media, like the pencil, is a prosthesis extending the reach of the hand, the tongue and consciousness itself. Using generative image techniques as a form of contemporary scrying I can activate a deeper imaginal realm to play at the liminal edge of the mind’s default pattern recognition states.
