Gunmetal and Lemon, Swollen Bruised Greys
Nathaniel Wojtalik: September 2006

The sunset is one of the most emotive forces and powerful influences of human behavior. The point where the revelations of the day turn into the illusions of the night, sometimes forcing one into madness. This is an attempt to harness the visual power of the sun and allow it to control its own auditory response as it makes its exit.

Gunmetal and Lemon, Swollen Bruised Greys is a live symphonic interpretation of the sunset automatically composed from the sky's rays of light. The horizon is broken down into 25x25 grid (625 sections total.) Each section is assigned a specific sound prerecorded from the environment surrounding the performance space. Each sound sample is altered in three ways: amplitude, pitch and resonance. Each one of these corresponds the the RGB Value of its own section.

amplitude=red+green+blue
pitch=blue
resonance=green

As the frequencies of light change so do the sounds. Each variable is mathematically altered with both linear and logarithmic operatives to maximize the impact over time, defining an apex when the sun hits the horizon, then slowly settling as the sky grows dark leaving the viewer in silence.

Exhibition Dates:

September 30, 2006
Sunrise Amplitheater
Flagstaff Mountain
Boulder, CO