Study no.2 : Picket fence and chips (2024)

Duration: 10 mins

The so-called 'picket fence effect' is a perceptual phenomenon whereby a stimulus which is repeatedly interrupted in a consistent and predictable way (for example, a passing view of a garden obscured by a regularly-spaced picket fence), is perceived as being continuous - our brains 'fill in' whatever parts of it are out of sight or hearing.

This piece begins as a musical demonstration of this effect using video footage of a bass clarinettist playing long notes, standing in a different position for each pitch. When the recordings of two different notes are alternated quickly enough, we perceive them both as being continuous (and 'see' two clarinettists at once). Similarly, when very short clips of two notes are played in close enough succession, they sound more or less simultaneous. As the piece goes on, it leans increasingly into the style of the Japanese video game composers who pioneered the use of these kinds of techniques in the 1980's as a way of circumventing the limitations of the relatively primitive sound chips they had to work with: we hear (and see) rapidly-arpeggiated 'pseudochords', percussive 'blips', loading sequences and bursts of noise created by rapid, random successions of pitches. The limitations imposed here are even stricter: although it may not seem like it, we never hear or see more than one note at a time - and we only ever hear acoustic sounds as they were played during the recording session.

Below is embedded a Full HD (1080p), 60fps rendering of the piece; an Ultra HD (3840p) version, with uncompressed audio, is available for screenings and gallery installations upon request.

It is also possible for collectors and institutions to purchase a unique ‘print’ of the piece (due to the random processes involved, it comes out subtly different every time it is generated); please enquire via the Contact page.