FIBER OPTIC SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRA

Tessellation is the score for artist Bruce Munro’s art installation ‘FOSO’ [Fiber Optic Symphonic Orchestra]. It is an abstract large scale outdoor installation of an entirely light-responsive orchestra.

An array of two meter high, five meter diameter light ‘columns’, each represent a ‘musician’ forming the layout of an orchestra. Each column is inspired and represented by the iconic Hill’s Hoist rotary washing line, an everyday Australian object that is also a beautiful structural support. Cylindrical arrays of fibre optic cables encircle each Hills Hoist, making it a column of light. A control system scrolls through a spectrum of colours synchronised to the score and as the fibre optic columns change hues, viewers experience sound translated into colour creating the immersive experience of an orchestra playing amid the lights. Different frequencies and pitches of sound are assigned different colours. FOSO’s light-responsive orchestra is designed to play ‘in time’ to the music, which means as you walk through the display, you can hear the individual instrument sections of the orchestra, ranging from the individual brass, string and woodwind elements to the electronics and vocals. 

Using the symphonic orchestra including organic and electronic musical sounds, I wanted to take the listener on an exhilarating, emotional journey through nine musical pieces. While composing, in my mind’s eye, I would think of the visual layout; how all the colours and rhythms would interweave with one another. I conceptualised the patterns and shapes the installation would create with their emotional connection to the listener; from dense and rich, vibrant and colourful, to gentle and calming. The ebb and flow of the work would take you on a rollercoaster of building tension to a soft release of emotion. 

THE ORIGIN

Tessellation is my ‘breaking-out-of-my-shell’ work; a voyage of musical self discovery. Having spent my career serving cinematic storytelling for Film, TV and Video Games, writing this work gave me the opportunity to create my own narrative. 

Bruce’s only brief was that I should make full use of the symphonic orchestra, and that the piece should start and end with the idea of an orchestra tuning up.  We recorded the live elements in Vienna Synchron Stage and hand picked soloists. 

Having studied mathematics at degree level, I have always been intrigued by the relationship between music, mathematics and patterns in nature. 

As a child, I studied Indian classical music and percussion, which is deeply rooted in mathematical and rhythmical principles. I was also interested in architecture and the intersection between art and science. Goethe said, “Music is liquid architecture; Architecture is frozen music”. Both share the principles of rhythm, harmony, energy and texture.

As a result I have distilled the essence of some of these early influences that have in some shape or form haunted me my whole life into Tessellation.

My fascination with the relationship between colour, sound and emotion also comes from my love of film. Vittorio Storaro was one of the great cinematographers renowned for ‘painting with light’ and his work in film had a profound influence on me growing up. The way that light interacts with matter creates an endless variety of colours and patterns, from the shimmering colours of a sunset to the dancing lights of the aurora borealis.

Numbers and circular patterns are found everywhere in the natural world. From the micro, where they are present in the structure of leaves, the pattern of a snail’s shell or the formation of tree branches, to the macro; found in the spirals arms of galaxies and patterns of stars. These circular patterns are the fundamentals of the Fibonacci sequence. They are also found in the divine proportion of consecutive numbers in the sequence called the Golden Ratio, an aesthetically pleasing proportion that can be found in the Pyramids of Giza to Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. 

THE MUSIC

I wanted to bring these ideas into the DNA of the compositions. 

Spiral starts with the orchestra tuning up, and out of these seemingly random flutterings, a pattern starts to form like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that create an image; order is borne out of chaos, like the formation of a galaxy.

With Synchronicity, the use of repeating patterns and sequences of notes evoke a tension that must be resolved with an emotional rush of euphoria. 

A Force of Nature uses certain harmonies and intervals to create a sense of calm and symmetry, giving an order and structure to our feelings and the world around us. 

Touches of Spanish Flamenco and Indian classical rhythms blended with fragments of Asian sliding strings find their way into Altered States.

The idea of the circle of life, from birth to death, all the way through the passing of time with streams of rhythmic musical lines dancing and weaving in and out is a recurring concept that can be found in Tessellation. 

I wanted the ebb and flow of Grain Of Enlightment to take the listener through romantic swirling murmurations of flowing energy, but my love of melody and the refined equilibrium and comfort find their way into many pieces such as Unravelling Wave and Constellations.

We eventually come back full circle to the very beginning with One Point Six One Eight, ending with the orchestra becoming more fragmented; back where we were, from order to chaos and fragments of sound. 1.618 is the Golden Ratio, the mathematical proof of the concept of love and the human perception of beauty. This is my attempt to bring out beauty from chaos, to find our place in the world and who we are.