test pattern
Ryoji Ikeda
2008
test pattern is a system designed by artist Ryoji Ikeda that converts any type of data (text, sounds, photos and movies) into barcode patterns and binary patterns of 0s and 1s. Through its application, the project aims to examine the relationship between critical points of device performance and the threshold of human perception.
- 2010
—Théâtre de Gennevilliers, France
La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain - 2008
—Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media, Yamaguchi, Japan
test pattern [n˚3] was created by Ryoji Ikeda in 2010. Commissioned by Théâtre de Gennevilliers, 2010. Produced by Forma. Supported by ARCADI, projection design.
test pattern [n˚2] presents flickering black and white imagery that floats and convulses in darkness on two screens, one on the floor and another floor to ceiling, in time with a stark, powerful and highly synchronised soundtrack. Through a real–time computer program audio signal patterns are converted into tightly synchronised barcode patterns on the screens. The velocity of the moving images is ultra–fast, some hundreds of frames per second, providing a totally immersive experience for visitors. The work provides a performance test for the audio and visual devices, as well as a response test for one's perceptions.
test pattern [n˚2] was created by Ryoji Ikeda in 2010. Commissioned by La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain. Produced by Forma.
Ryoji Ikeda, testpattern [n˚1] 2008. Photo: Kazuo Fukunaga, courtesy of YCAM
Ryoji Ikeda, testpattern [n˚1] 2008. Photo: Kazuo Fukunaga, courtesy of YCAM
Ryoji Ikeda, testpattern [n˚1] 2008. Photo: Kazuo Fukunaga, courtesy of YCAM
test pattern [n˚1], the first edition of the project, involves a sequence of tests for machines and humans. Comprising of visual patterns converted and generated from sound waveforms in real–time, the installation is made up of eight computer monitors and sixteen loudspeakers aligned on the floor in a dark space. The eight rectangular surfaces of the screens flicker intensely with black and white images. Sixteen channel sound signals are mapped as a grid matrix, passing and slicing the space sharply, and via a real–time computer program the signal patterns are converted into eight tightly synchronised barcode patterns. The velocity of the moving images is ultra–fast, at certain points some hundreds of frames per second, providing a performance test for the devices as well as a response test for visitors' perceptions.
test pattern [n˚1] was created by Ryoji Ikeda in 2008. Commissioned by Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media, Yamaguchi, Japan. Produced by Forma.
Ryoji Ikeda is a Japanese sound and visual artist living and working in Paris, France and Kyoto, Japan. Ikeda has gained an international reputation as one of the few artists working convincingly across both visual and sonic media. He elaborately orchestras sound, visuals, materials, physical phenomena and mathematical notions into immersive live performances and installations. Alongside musical activity, Ikeda has been working on long-term projects through live performances, installations, books and CD’s such as datamatics (2006-), test pattern (2008-), spectra (2001-), cyclo (a collaborative project with Carsten Nicolai), superposition (2012-), supersymmetry (2014-) and micro | macro (2015-). Ryoji Ikeda is represented by Almine Rech Gallery.
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Background image: Ryoji Ikeda, test pattern [n˚3] 2010