TempusFugit

Fugit Irreparabile Tempus

In ancient times the idea of delay and time lag didn't exist: predominant was a concept of cyclic time, that of an eternal return, the myth of the different ages - from gold to iron, going back to gold possibly after a catastrophe, deluge or something similar. Thus a conception of time that didn't leave much space to displacement.

A cycle can be seen as a circle and a circle can be seen as the prison of a spiral, if, to make a circle, you need to cut a spiral, interrupting the flow of energy, trapping it into a loop.

"Sed fugit interea fugit irreparabile tempus" (But it flees in the meantime, irretrievable time flees).

Virgilio, Georgiche

Description

Tempus Fugit is a realtime performance that uses the effects of sending and resending the same stream of data over the network on different servers, receiving them on the same laptop creating a spiraling fractal sound where each stream is contained and contains the others. The received sound is played on a PA and captured by a microphone, and simultaneously re-streamed. The effect is a complex signal creating an illusion which isn't just a simple sound delay, because the different phases start cutting some frequencies modulating and modifying the original wave.

This performance plays with space (the remote spaces where the sound is sent) and time (the time lag of a stream jumping from one server to the other) and transforms the internet in a musical instrument, rendering the texture of its tactile reticular extension perceivable through a unique acoustic experience.

Technique

This composition was born by chance, once upon a time in Amsterdam in 2007, due to the attitude to constantly experiment with live audio and video streams: suddenly something unexplained happened, and the sound became more interesting. This has been, so far, a piece for bedroom and one performer (plus some accidental remote listeners). Although its public execution has been repeatedly requested, this work is still 'unpublished'.

The initial setup was:
- 1 laptop (PPC 12 inches)
- 3 servers (dyne: holland; hangar: spain; giss: norway)
- 1 USB audio card
- 3 stereo audio cables
- 1 aiwa NSX-V20 Digital audio system
- 1 network cable
- XS4all internet access
- the Net

Software:
- Pure Data
- Ogg Forward
- Mplayer
- Videolan
- Icecast
- DarkIce
- ffmpeg

The plan for the new version is:
- linux lenovo
- Super Collider
- Jack
- Darkice
- Icecast

The new implementation requires further research. To avoid an inexpressive 'laptop' performance, one possibility is to create a number of presets and control the pseudo-machine via Arduino hacking a old radio, which would symbolize the passage from one media to the other.

To make the process clear a possibility is a processing visualization in real-time of the streams voyage. Still data visualization can be very deluding and distract from the real meaning of the act. Otherwise, Fugit Irreparabile Tempus may be executed displaying the laptop screen on a projector, as often happens during Live Coding performances.

[draft to be continued]