Surface Tension

A Return to Circuit Bending as Research

Greg Hughes
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Thesis

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Articulations of Trace: Analogue-Digital
Conversion in The Age of Transversal

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How does the trace of a medium survive

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transversal analogue-digital media assemblage

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and what qualities of its survival hold potential for

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thinking about media cultures and practice?

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Greg Hughes
Toward a Return to
Creative Practice
Media Archaeology and
Cultural Techniques

Greg Hughes
Toward a Return to
Creative Practice

Distortion
Greg Hughes
Surface Tension
A Return to Circuit Bending as Research

Greg Hughes
Surface Tension
Testing

Greg Hughes
Surface Tension
Testing

Greg Hughes
Surface Tension
Testing

Greg Hughes
Greg Hughes
Surface Tension
The Space

Greg Hughes
Surface Tension
Map of Data Sets

The Data
Projection Screen 1 (P1) Projection Screen 3 (P3) Projection Screen 2 (P2)

Screen 5 (S5) Screen 4 (S4)

P1 Global Mean Sea Level Time Series (Seasonal Signals Removed)

Nerem, R. S., D. Chambers, C. Choe, and G. T. Mitchum. "Estimating Mean Sea Level Change from
the TOPEX and Jason Altimeter Missions." Marine Geodesy 33, no. 1 supp 1 (2010): 435.
<http://sealevel.colorado.edu/>

Approximately 36 records per year, for 10 years, @ 22 notes per minute

Approximate global sea level rise of period: 24 – 50 = 26mm

P2 Surface Wave Height: Port Kembla Buoy

Manly Hydraulics Laboratory, NSW Government< http://new.mhl.nsw.gov.au/> and

Australian Ocean Data Network Portal < http://portal.aodn.org.au/webportal/>

Approximately 7000 records per year, for 10 years, @ 4200 notes per minute
Approx average max wave height for period: 3.5m
Approx mean wave height for period: 0.9m

P3 Combination of P1 and P2 @ half speed with no intervention

S4 Yearly Average Global Mean Sea Level @ 1 note per Year (right) and Port Kembla Yearly
Average Max Surface Wave Height @ 1 note per Year (left)

S5 Combination of S4 Data sets

Greg Hughes
Surface Tension
The Interface

Greg Hughes
Surface Tension
Behind The Interface: Circuit Bending?

The Crunch App

Feedback loop via mixer

Positive and negative progress

and position of digital playhead
controlled by amplitudes of main
mix and The Crunch feedback loop
With additional segmented
Effected Audio out. positional control from keyboard
To mixer for controlled
AD
inclusion in main mix
and The Crunch Playhead Audio from main mix and
feedback loop return The Crunch feedback loop send.
Both input levels controllable
at mixer

DA

Effected video out. DA

To projector screen 1
Pre composed audio and video sequence

The Crunch application simultaneously contributed sound to the main surround mix, effected
the pre composed footage on projector 1 and effected itself via a controllable feedback loop.

Greg Hughes
Surface Tension
Where to Next?

?
Greg Hughes
Other Projects

Black Box White Cube 1/4 Inch 3D Mo Graph/ Animation

Audio production and sound design Performance of sound and AV and molecule visualisation
moving image

https://open.spotify.com. https://1-4inch.com https://youtu.be/oerajcNlhDw

Greg Hughes