Working Title
Speak
This work is intended to work on chrome browser, with optimal viewing on an andriod device.
description:
This work is for one of the three Virtual Reality(VR) headsets that are arranged on a plinth/table, with each of the power cables to the VR headsets coming out of a bible located in the base of the table. Each of the VR headsets contain an individual experience relating to methods of connecting to divine.
- Speak: voice to tongues translation
When the participant speaks, the sound of tongues is played back in the headphone, and the VR screen brightens to white during the play back. This parallels the real experience of speaking in tongues, ones intention is to speak a word of phrase, yet what they hear is an unknown language being spoken
Display of work: This work has been designed for gallery installation. The VR headset is attached to a plinth via a micro usb cable (which provides power to the unit) and is locked in place on the right side of the head unit allowing a limited range of movement. This restricted movement is for safety, as the participant is completely blind to their surroundings. Idealy this installation is maintained every two to three days, by doing a full reset, to maximise the experience for the participant as the headsets will 'lag' over time. This technology is still emergent at the time of the making of this artwork.
Rationale and research
What is it about
"An inward possession by the Spirit which is so strong that it can no longer find adequate expression in comprehensible language, so that it utters itself in glossolalia - just as intense pain is expressed by unrestrained weeping, or extreme joy by jumping and dancing." Jurgen Moltmann (Beck 2015)
The aformentioned quote aptly sums up what it is to speak tongues. The intention in this work was to give the participant a similar experience. That of loss of control, and when they speak, another language is played back in their ears. Additionally a white light graduates in the headset, alluding to the engagement with the holy spirit.
The requirement for active engagement by the viewer draws a parallel to the active engagement with and of the holy spirit.
What is my personal revelation/experience
I have always believed in god, tho I had never actively participated in a church or ritual. So when i was water baptised I rose out of the water world with new perception, I could see differently, the sun had a shimmer to its reflection and time was dislocated, i felt an intense disconnection to the now. It is during this time that I also received the baptism of the holy spirit.
Without the baptism of the holy spirit, you can be a christian, but never experience the giftings of the holy spirit, which is most noticably expressed through tongues.
references from the bible which relate to thework
1 Corinthians 14:2 (CEB)
For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.
Mark 16:17 (CEB)
And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;
Acts 2:4 (CEB)
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Acts 19:6 (CEB)
When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
Asset production
List of assets:
Assets Images and objects
The visual component of this project was produced via css code manipulation of a <div> object.
function drawLoop( time ) {
// clear the background
canvasContext.clearRect(0,0,WIDTH,HEIGHT);
sndlvlfade = sndlvlfade - 0.01;
// check if we're currently clipping
if (meter.checkClipping())
canvasContext.fillStyle = "red";
else
canvasContext.fillStyle = "green";
// draw a bar based on the current volume
//canvasContext.fillRect(0, 0, meter.volume*WIDTH*1.4, HEIGHT);
var sndlvl = meter.volume;
sndlvl = sndlvl.toFixed(2); // round to two decimal places
document.getElementById("volumetext").innerHTML = sndlvlfade;
// set up the next visual callback
rafID = window.requestAnimationFrame( drawLoop );
// change the volume of the sound file based on the micophone input level ( meter.volume)
sndlvl = sndlvl * 5;
if(sndlvl > sndlvlfade) {sndlvlfade = sndlvl;}
if(sndlvlfade < 0.06) { sndlvlfade = 0;}
if(sndlvlfade > 1) { sndlvlfade = 1;}
document.getElementById("tongues").volume = sndlvlfade;
// change opacity of white overlay
document.getElementById("whitepanel").style.opacity = sndlvlfade;
}
Assets sounds
voice.mp3 and voice2.mp3 which are tongues base sound files were originally created via recording of artists voice speaking tongues in .wav format. These were then edited in software application Audacity and exported as mp3 files.
Theory of the code
The code for this project was written for web based platforms. Code languages used for this application were HTML, javascript, css and jquery. NOTE: As of 2017 security limitations to accessing microphone and camera were established. Purchase of an SSL certificate for the host server were required. Audio playback has now been restricted to requiring user input before audio streaming takes place, this was bypassed through initiating the audio playback on clicking the 'fullscreen' button on the application.
To realise this artwork required gaining access to the devices microphone and attenuating the sound to respond to decibel levels. The base code for this project was based of a open source code that I produced in may (http://artworkprocesscode.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/blog-post.html ) and a fullscreener code (http://artworkprocesscode.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/how-to-fullscreen-webpage-with-html.html)
Build versions: excluding base code development.
NOTE: Code is reference in individual files and annotated throughout the code files. Please download and refer to individual files for more detail.
1. Decible meter code (index.html) modified. db feedback variable scaled to audio volume level.(main.js and volume_meter.js)
2. modified for use on a mobile device (index.html). Adding permissions request for microphone access and audio scream buffering.
3. fullscreener code added (fullscreener.js and index.html) now clears all preload html content and fullscreens to black screen.
4. Audio asset successfully modified. (index.html and main.js)
5. Manipulation of <div> based on db variable added. Responds to audio input by gradually increasing the brightness of the screen. Audio playback is scalled gradually as opposed to sharp clipping of audio levels.
References
Beck, David 2015. "The Holy Spirit and the Renewal of All Things: Pneumatology in Paul and Jurgen Moltmann" James Clarke & Co. ISBN 9780227903179
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