DEEPTIME

Playpiece 3: Deeptime takes a new approach to organising the material of the 10k image library. This playpiece has a unique underlying structure which can be, and is intended to be, experienced interactively.

Deeptime is constructed from a series of interconnecting loops or cycles, which can be navigated through a decision tree of branching options, between either 2 or 4 directions at the point of intersection. The visual track is designed to flow equally well in both forward and reverse directions.

The core set of pathways are linked by a series of shortcuts, allowing for multiple versions of the experience to be created by travelling round the structure via different configurations. While taking this highly abstract creative approach is reasonably straightforward when constructing the visual track, the same cannot be said for the soundtrack.

Below composer Alexey Sibikin explains his process:

"My approach came from Lesley's explanation of the video concept, that is, a sequence of parts flowing in different directions between certain points. When you watch the video you don't realise the structure that underlies it - it's almost like a secret trick that isn't noticeable.
In composing the music I made up loops and samples, each of which can play in both directions. It is not the sequence of notes but the sound itself that is reversed. The music is built out of these loops playing both backwards and forwards, and as the track progresses the loops change and develop and are combined with each other in different ways. However, the idea was to compose a track where one couldn't necessarily tell whether it was going backwards or forwards - that, like the visual track, underneath the general musicality there lays a certain structure, a secret trick that ties the whole thing together. "

 

This video puts the original into reverse, showing how both visual and audio tracks can function in both directions.

In future there will follow more experiments with structure and combination, to produce yet more variations on the Deeptime playpiece.