Visual Music Studies 2024

Roger Fry used the term 'visual music' in 1912 in a text about the work of the painter, graphic artist and theorist Wassily Kandinsky. Kandinsky was a synaesthete, i.e. he saw colors and shapes simultaneously - in his mind's eye - while listening.

Since 2009, the Institute for Music and Media (IMM) at the Robert Schumann University has offered Visual Music as a major field of study. At the renowned Düsseldorf University of Music, students learn to visualize their music/sound from concept to realization. All genres are open to them - from analog experimental film to generative, expansive media installations.

The final projects by Noah Bugalski, Anna Hummen, Vladyslav Masko, Lena Ruzicka, Meryem Saral, Konrad Simon and Jakob Walheim were created in 2023/24 under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Heike Sperling, Marcus Schmickler, Prof. Ulla Barthold, Leon Monschauer and Jan Höhe.

Imperfections by Noah Bugalski - music video, length: approx. 3 minutes
The music video Imperfections by Noah Bugalski is a visual and auditory collage in response to the never-ending and everyday struggle with one's own perfectionism. With the help of chaotic sounds of broken instruments, digital errors and controlled by generative software, chance is given a stage and the imperfect becomes the focus. For the artist and the audience, this creates a kind of antidote to the paralyzing control freak with a simple goal: to learn to let go.

Brighter Day by Anna Hummen - performance, length: 4 minutes
Brighter Day by Anna Hummen was created with the desire for departure, away from melancholy and into the maelstrom of fears of days gone by, which the songwriter and producer Anna Hummen courageously confronts. In dialog with the projected visuals, the artist sings about her process in the form of an experimental pop song.

IdioMorph by Moritz Lörcks - performance, length: 9 minutes
The drumset performance IdioMorph by Moritz Lörcks leads through a series of soundscapes ranging from various facets of dance music to experimental improvisations. Four-on-the-floor beats transition into free and decelerating intermezzi in which the broad potential of sound production on the drum set is explored. The performance is accompanied by sound design and synthesizer sounds that represent a dynamic fusion of club feeling and science fiction film music. Parallel to the audio level, a music video on a screen takes the audience on a journey through abstract worlds full of geometric bodies that visualize the music.

Metamorphoses of Being by Vladyslav Masko - video installation
The video installation Metamorphoses of Being by Vladyslav Masko offers a unique view of the evolution of existence. The story explores three levels of perception, from the mesmerizing primordiality of nature, which lies beyond our consciousness, to the conscious image of oneself as part of human society. The culmination manifests itself in the sonic absurdity of pain and the culmination of the fear of death and the unknown, leading to a catharsis that connects to the infinite cosmos. Each television in the installation is an independent information window that shows a general or specific aspect of metamorphosis: from static to movement, from blossoming to extinction, from joy to pain. The acoustic, immersive sound experience enables the audience to feel the fullness and complexity of human perception.

Kindswald by Lena Ruzicka - VR experience, length: 10 minutes
Playing in the forest, the feeling of safety and security, basic trust. - What is all this worth when you find yourself in the adult world and have to redefine yourself? Who are you without your parents and your familiar surroundings, who have always dictated what your life should look like? What is it like to break away from who you thought you were?
The VR experience Kindswald by Lena Ruzicka deals with the reality of growing up, of searching and finding yourself anew, with the loss of childlike, naive freedom and creativity and the gaining of a new independent strength. It is not an easy path. What will be at the end?

I woke up angry this morning by Meryem Saral - video installation, length: 5 minutes
Imagine Sleeping Beauty waking up from her hundred-year sleep after the prince's kiss and suddenly becoming fully aware of the invasive nature of this moment. The video installation I woke up angry this morning by Meryem Saral focuses on reflections on the image of women in Hollywood films. Sampled video and sound material creates a new narrative narrative about the awakening from a passive coma state and the active development of anger. The installation is presented on analog televisions and rejoices in anger as an act of purification and a cause for celebration.

manipulation by Konrad Simon - performance/installation, length: 5 minutes
Based on a DNA sequence, the audiovisual work manipulation by Konrad Simon explores the influence of humans on complex algorithms through targeted manipulation. A space is created in which the duality of biology and technology merges, opening up new perspectives on the relationship between humans and their own creation. The reciprocal relationship between human influence and the algorithmic structures that shape both our biological existence and digital reality can be experienced. Sound and visuals can be influenced and modified by hand movements.

ADM (Annoying Dance Music) by Jakob Walheim - light installation, length: 6 minutes
The audiovisual composition ADM (Annoying Dance Music) by Jakob Walheim deals with the boundaries and the blurring of these in the interplay of musical and visual events in space. With the help of sound and light, Jakob Walheim's work explores the question of whether this interplay can create new forms or whether visual events can even replace musical ones. There is unlikely to be a single answer to this question - the audience is invited to let the impressions sink in and explore this question for themselves.