Cognitive and Structural Approaches to Contemporary Audiovisual Computer Aided Composition

Recent research in Neuroscience supports the long-held belief of many in the Visual arts and Experimental music community that there is a sensory connection between our experience of sound and our experience of light. These connections have been shown to be dynamic, changing in a reliable fashion depending on the way in which sonic and visual material is organised. The philosophical implications and potential cultural impact of this realisation is enormous. As such, it is carving a path for cutting edge research into the nature of human audiovisual perception in ways which have previously been thought impossible. Furthermore, recent progress into the development of real-time software for the simultaneous manipulation of sonic and visual material, in addition to the falling cost of increasingly more powerful multimedia technology, is making possible the exploration of multisensory, structurally related audiovisual composition techniques in ways which will revolutionise our perception of, and our interaction with moving images and sound.Concurrently, research in the fields of Cognition, Neuroscience, Psychology and Computation are highlighting specific new approaches to the structuring and perception of audiovisual material which may potentially be even more significant. This research reveals strategies for the understanding, engagement with and manipulation of our conscious experience of sound and vision. These strategies are reliable, repeatable, and demonstrative of the limits of consciousness itself. In the same way that the multisensory nature of audiovisual experience is already a feature of experimental audiovisual work, other extraordinary revelations in scientific and arts research have been and are becoming a major part of existing experimental audiovisual practice. These connections will only increase as research reveals evidence which aids in our understanding of how we interact with the universe. These facts alone support the specific engagement with contemporary theory and practice proposed by this research project.This research will engage and interact with leading academics in the fields of Neuroscience, Cognition, Psychology, Computation, Computer Music, Film and Visual arts. In addition it will liaise with contemporary Broadcast media practitioners from Television, Film and Computer Games design. It aims to discover and reveal novel concepts in the creation of audiovisual works using techniques uncovered through developments in the understanding of our engagement with audiovisual material. It will achieve this through collaboration, consultation, experimentation, software development, Audiovisual composition practice, Film making, Digital Media practice, Computer Music research, generative and algorithmic exploration and Artificial Intelligence research. This continuing program of interdisciplinary practice will be supported by the excellent research culture at Goldsmiths College. Housed in the Goldsmiths Electronic Music Studio, it will benefit from the direct involvement of institution's own researchers in the fields of Visual Perception, Music Cognition, Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Neuropsychology. As such, the research will be taking place within an environment which will effectively support its successful development and completion.This research will result in the creation of specific works which exploit cognitive and structural approaches to audiovisual composition, and in addition gain high visibility at key international events which focus on contemporary approaches to Sound, Music, Film, Video and digital technology. It will engage with contemporary theory and practice at festivals, and also through publication. Furthermore, it will instantiate, develop and maintain a relevant discourse with the broadcast industries, and lead to an increased understanding of some of the most engaging and important issues surrounding our interaction with audiovisual and digital media culture.