Visible Noise / Invisible Lights


Visible Noise/Invisible Lights is a study of the white noise produced by lights. I explored relationships between 25 kinds of lights at the studio using a Spirograph, which produces mathematical curves known as hypotrochoids and epitrochoids. First, I listened to all of the lights for several days to verify how much noise they emitted. After that, I photographed all of the lights, then recorded their sound while both turned off and turned on. Then, I analyzed differences such as repetition pattern, volume, and frequency between waves of the lights’ sounds. Spirographs have many wheels and plates, each making different patterns. I matched the density and edge quality of these Spirograph patterns to qualities of sound like volume and pitch to make correspondences. The resulting Spirograph images are shown in a book, paired with a photograph of the light source.

In relation to this investigation, I researched Cymatics, which is a natural phenomenon whereby sound waves create physical change in a medium. For instance, when scientists place salt on speakers the salt naturally moves into distinct patterns determined by the sound frequencies. If the frequency is higher, the salts respond and the patterns become denser and more varied. The appearance of Cymatics is comparable to Spirograph patterns. Both visually communicate sound in various patterns, density, and size that vary in intensity as sound waves do. Both synthesize sound and sight, making sound visible.

Visible Noise/Invisible Lights was a study of everyday noise rather than an attempt to design solutions to problematic aspects of it. It became a key element for another project, Voice Visualizer.