Synchromism in the 21st Century

The goal of this research project was to first gain an understanding of the techniques and methods used in Synchromism, an art movement active only from the 1910s to the 1920s. This art movement focused on using colour in a similar way to how composers would use notes in a symphony. They did this by using colour in abstract ways, and using it to create musical qualities, such as rhythm and tone. The project then focused on finding how these techniques have been, or could still be, translated to a modern context and how they would work in the technological landscape of the 21st Century.

These findings then informed the creation of a new visual-music work, incorporating relatively new artistic techniques of employing Synchromist ideas to still photos of different areas in a small town. This created an ever-evolving journey through this town, made using visual-creation technologies such as Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro and After Effects. This was then paired with an acousmatic accompaniment, consisting of digitally altered vocals from a number of volunteers, made in the digital audio workstation, Reaper.