2019, 6:12 min. (a sample from 16 min. piece)
An audiovisual recording of a digitally composed improvisation was realized as part of the program for the exhibition Sounds / Codes / Images (May 2019, City Gallery of Prague). It is based on an author's code that extracts any part of the audible spectrum from any sound material. In the work, the entire audible spectrum (20-20 kHz) is filled with white noise with uniform power spectral density, into which the author can "scrap" empty spaces in real time using algorithms and creating an imaginary "negative sound space". This appears in the visual aspect of the work as black lines or surfaces. For this, the author uses various combinations of two hundred bandpass filters, structured as small sonic-visual events: "trees, landscapes, impulses or splashes".
The basis of the Spectral Negative, as is often the case with Cáb's other works, is an open and freely available code written in Pure Data, which is an integral part of the AV projection.
Michal Cáb (1980) is engaged in the field of musical improvisation, programming and sound installations. He graduated in Theology and in Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. In his artistic practice, he often uses the Linux operating system and Pure Data programming environment, which serve as the basis of his works in gallery or performing arts.