ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Golan Levin - Experimental audio-visual artist
Half performance artist, half software engineer, Golan Levin manipulates the computer to create improvised soundscapes with dazzling corresponding visuals. He is at the forefront of defining new parameters for art.

Why you should listen

Having worked as an academic at MIT and a researcher specializing in computer technology and software engineering, Golan Levin now spends most of his time working as a performance artist. Rest assured his education hasn't gone to waste, however, as Levin blends high tech and customized software programs to create his own extraordinary audio and visual compositions. The results are inordinately experimental sonic and visual extravaganzas from the furthest left of the field.

Many of his pieces force audience participation, such as Dialtones: A Telesymphony, a concert from 2001 entirely composed of the choreographed ringtones of his audience. Regularly exhibiting pieces in galleries around the world, and also working as an Assistant Professor of Electronic Time-Based Art at Carnegie Mellon University, Levin is unapologetically pushing boundaries to define a brave new world of what is possible.

His latest piece, Double-Taker (Snout), is installed at the Pittsburg Museum of Art.

More profile about the speaker
Golan Levin | Speaker | TED.com
TED2004

Golan Levin: Software (as) art

Golan Levin fala de software como arte

Filmed:
658,857 views

O engenheiro e artista Golan Levin estende os limites do que é possível fazer com audiovisual e tecnologia. Nesta incrível apresentação do TED, ele mostra dois programas que desenvolveu para apresentar sua arte.
- Experimental audio-visual artist
Half performance artist, half software engineer, Golan Levin manipulates the computer to create improvised soundscapes with dazzling corresponding visuals. He is at the forefront of defining new parameters for art. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:27
Imagine spending seven years at MIT and research laboratories,
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Imagine passar sete anos no MIT e em laboratórios
00:30
only to find out that you're a performance artist.
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só para descobrir que você é um artista performático.
00:35
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
00:39
I'm also a software engineer,
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Também sou engenheiro de software
00:42
and I make lots of different kinds of art with the computer.
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e faço vários tipos de arte com o computador.
00:44
And I think the main thing that I'm interested in
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Acho que o que mais me interessa
00:46
is trying to find a way of
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é encontrar uma maneira de
00:48
making the computer into a personal mode of expression.
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tornar o computador um meio pessoal de expressão.
00:51
And many of you out there are the heads of Macromedia and Microsoft,
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Muitos de vocês são chefes na Macromedia e na Microsoft, que,
00:56
and in a way those are my bane:
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de certo modo, são a minha desgraça.
00:58
I think there's a great homogenizing force
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Há uma grande força homogeneizante
01:01
that software imposes on people and limits the way they think
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que o software impõe nas pessoas, limitando o modo de pensar
01:07
about what's possible on the computer.
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sobre as possibilidades do computador.
01:09
Of course, it's also a great liberating force that makes possible,
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Claro, também é uma força libertadora, que possibilita
01:12
you know, publishing and so forth, and standards, and so on.
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publicação, padronização e assim por diante.
01:15
But, in a way, the computer makes possible much more
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Mas, de certo modo, computadores possibilitam muito mais
01:19
than what most people think, and my art has just been about
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do que as pessoas pensam, e a arte vem tentando
01:22
trying to find a personal way of using the computer,
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encontrar seu próprio jeito de usar o computador.
01:24
and so I end up writing software to do that.
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Então, desenvolvi softwares para fazer isso.
01:28
Chris has asked me to do a short performance,
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O Chris me pediu para fazer uma pequena apresentação,
01:30
and so I'm going to take just this time -- maybe 10 minutes --
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então vou tomar este tempo, talvez dez minutos,
01:33
to do that, and hopefully at the end have just a moment
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para fazê-lo e, tomara, eu consiga
01:35
to show you a couple of my other projects in video form.
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mostrar outros projetos meus em vídeo.
13:11
Thank you.
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Obrigado.
13:13
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
13:24
We've got about a minute left.
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Ainda temos um minuto.
13:26
I'd just like to show a clip from a most recent project.
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Gostaria de mostrar um trecho de um projeto mais recente.
13:28
I did a performance with two singers
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Eu fiz uma performance com dois cantores
13:31
who specialize in making strange noises with their mouths.
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especialistas em fazer ruídos estranhos com a boca.
13:34
And this just came off last September at ARS Electronica;
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Isto foi em setembro, na ARS Eletronica.
13:37
we repeated it in England.
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Fizemos de novo, na Inglaterra
13:39
And the idea is to visualize their speech and song behind them
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A ideia é visualizar a fala e a música atrás deles
13:42
with a large screen.
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com uma tela grande.
13:43
We used a computer vision tracking system
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Usamos um sistema de rastreamento visual
13:45
in order to know where they were.
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para saber onde eles estavam.
13:47
And since we know where their heads are,
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Como sabemos onde estão as cabeças,
13:48
and we have a wireless mic on them
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e eles têm microfones sem fio
13:50
that we're processing the sound from,
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dos quais processamos o som,
13:51
we're able to create visualizations
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conseguimos criar visualizações
13:53
which are linked very tightly to what they're doing with their speech.
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fortemente ligadas a o que eles estão fazendo com a fala.
13:56
This will take about 30 seconds or so.
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Isto vai levar uns 30 segundos.
14:01
He's making a, kind of, cheek-flapping sound.
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Ele está fazendo um barulho com as bochechas.
14:43
Well, suffice it to say it's not all like that, but that's part of it.
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Bom, isto é apenas uma parte, não é só isto.
14:46
Thanks very much. There's always lots more.
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Muito obrigado. Sempre há muito mais.
14:48
I'm overtime, so I just wanted to say you can, if you're in New York,
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Já passou do tempo, mas, se vocês forem a Nova York,
14:50
you can check out my work at the Whitney Biennial next week,
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podem ver meu trabalho na Whitney Biennial semana que vem,
14:52
and also at Bitforms Gallery in Chelsea.
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e também na Bitforms Gallery, em Chelsea.
14:55
And with that, I think I should give up the stage,
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Com isso, acho que devo deixar o palco.
14:57
so, thank you so much.
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Muito obrigado.
Translated by Rafael Tourinho Raymundo
Reviewed by Vagner Pagotti

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Golan Levin - Experimental audio-visual artist
Half performance artist, half software engineer, Golan Levin manipulates the computer to create improvised soundscapes with dazzling corresponding visuals. He is at the forefront of defining new parameters for art.

Why you should listen

Having worked as an academic at MIT and a researcher specializing in computer technology and software engineering, Golan Levin now spends most of his time working as a performance artist. Rest assured his education hasn't gone to waste, however, as Levin blends high tech and customized software programs to create his own extraordinary audio and visual compositions. The results are inordinately experimental sonic and visual extravaganzas from the furthest left of the field.

Many of his pieces force audience participation, such as Dialtones: A Telesymphony, a concert from 2001 entirely composed of the choreographed ringtones of his audience. Regularly exhibiting pieces in galleries around the world, and also working as an Assistant Professor of Electronic Time-Based Art at Carnegie Mellon University, Levin is unapologetically pushing boundaries to define a brave new world of what is possible.

His latest piece, Double-Taker (Snout), is installed at the Pittsburg Museum of Art.

More profile about the speaker
Golan Levin | Speaker | TED.com