Project 1 – The Magenta Room – Introduction

The Concept:

The research project the Magenta Room aims at transforming one of the rooms of the Transmedia department in the annex of the Hogeschool Sint-Lukas Brussel into a sound-and-light-environment. The project is inspired by a series of works created by La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela, the Dream House, in th period 1962-1990. The research focuses on the opening of the concept and the studying of the different components of the assemblag – the sound, the light, the house, the environment, etc. by a (re)composition of the concept based on the artistic needs and technologies of today.

On wednesday November 26, 2008 the Magenta Room research project started with a short introduction for first year students of the master-after-master art curriculum Transmedia. Six students decided to devote some of their time to participate in this project. Together with Boris Debackere’s research project the Light Windows, these projects constitue the inauguration of the new Transmedia research project Mediated Environments. The aim of the research is to study advanced examples of mediated architecture, parks and landscapes, and to design and develop new concepts and models for future integrations of virtual and physical reality. Mapping the psychological consequences, such as synesthetic experiences, sense of presence, and behavioral effects, will be part of the research.

The Magenta Room project departed from studying the original sound-and-light-environments and Dream House as they were developed by La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela in the period 1962 – 1990. The focus of the research is to come up with a proposal to transform the glass corridor at the first floor of the Transmedia location into a sound-and-light-environment by using ideas and means of today. Students participating in this project have chosen to be part of a team. Their individual work may indirectly profit from this collaborative project in which education, research and production come together, but the main objective of the project is to offer them the opportunity to excercise the ins and outs of collaborative creative culture.

After the introduction of the subject, a number of proposals were formulated, most of them directly related to the wish of all participants to change the room (presently an unattended storage space) into a live organic environment – a zen space – by connecting the inside space with the outside environment in a number of significant ways.

Sound: transform the room into a musical instrument which may be played by visitors. Motion sensors and pressure sensors will be used to start and modulate a sound composition. The composition will consist of a mix of  1) radio signals which will be picked up from the neighbourhood (Arab music); 2)  solar sounds as they have been recorded by NASA in recent years; 3) a simple musical tune created for the site.

Light: Transform the room by using the light of the sun. At the occasion of the opening of the new building of Sint-Lukas, an encyclopedia was made of words relating to the school. In it is explained that the name Lukas is derived from lux, meaning light. The windows and doors of the room will be covered with dark magenta filters. In this way the rotation and light-dark cycle of the sun will get an expression in color changes of the environmental perspective.

Environment: The outside environment will be present in the inside of the room by the colored sunlight coming through the window and the sound composition played by a surround speaker system. the color effect will be optimal when the ceiling, walls and woodwork will be painted white, while the floor and seats may be covered with fluffy material, such as a white wool, long hair carpet. And the way back to the outside world will be channeled by a video and audio webcam.

Participants on this project are:

- Frans Evers – Senior researcher ArtScience

- Steven Devleminck – Senior researcher Transmedia

- Boris Debackere - Senior researcher Transmedia

- Vladislav Curcin – Student researcher Transmedia

- Filip Daniels - Student researcher Transmedia

- Sven Goyvaerts - Student researcher Transmedia

- Natalia Kolesova - Student researcher Transmedia

- Mautt Lefever - Student researcher Transmedia

- Gunther Truijen - Student researcher Transmedia