Steina Vasulka

ARTWORK

interactive art / performance art / video art

music / performance / sound-image interaction / video installation

1996

In 1991, after having experimentally attuned my acoustic violin to a variable-speed video player, I purchased a MIDI violin and a Pioneer CD player. I connected these devices with a computer, rendering any video image frame on the disc accessible. At the same time, I could slow down, speed up and play the same series of movements backwards and forwards. The software was designed byRuss Gritzo and further developed by Bill Heckel. Violin Power is an ongoing, still active project, with a constantly expanding repertoire. So far, I have completed five video discs. The program is different with each performance. The ZETA violin is a five-string electronic instrument with a MIDI output. Presently, the frames are marked by certain points on the A and E strings marking image frame-locations on the disc. The D and G strings regulate the speed and the direction, while the C string connects all of this together and is oriented towards the disc segments. (...) (S.V.)

The Butterfly Effect - Staged Moments