geophone
2016 · 6m
Directed by Georgios Cherouvim
Genres: essay film, experimental
Tones: contemplative, dark, surreal
An experimental work that converts 3D geometric object data directly into sound — the coordinates of a given 3D object are plotted along the point index to form three individual graphs, which are then translated into audio tracks, creating soundscapes derived entirely from digital object topology.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Cherouvim is doing genuine synesthetic research here — not assigning sounds to shapes by feel but deriving both from the same geometric data set. The rigor of that constraint produces an audiovisual experience that is genuinely unlike anything assembled by taste alone.
Sonifying 3D meshes is a 1998 SIGGRAPH demo dressed up as a concept piece. Ikeda's been doing this with more rigor for decades.
Audio generated algorithmically from the topology of 3D object coordinates — Ikeda-and-Scanner sonification work in essay form is a clean conceptual frame, and at 5:34 it has room to develop without overstaying its proof.