An Incomplete Timeline of Audiovisual Art
This page is an attempt to collect a list of notable artworks, artists, documentaries, papers and other resources related to the course Audiovisual Studio at Aalto Media Lab. The focus is on works that specifically explore the connection between sound/music and visuals, real-time media, or works that have had a significant impact on the field in some other way.
This list is by no means exhaustive and is constantly updating. It is an ongoing research and note-taking process that will probably never come to a conclusion.
It is also important to note that most of this list is compiled from the perspective of working as an audiovisual artist in Finland by a person educated in Finland and Canada. I very warmly welcome perspectives and suggestions from a non-western point of view.
1200s #
- ~1290 or earlier, 走马灯/走馬燈 (“running-horse-lantern”, similar to laterna magica) was documented in the writing of《武林舊事》:"..It looks like shadow puppets, where there are running horses and people spinning like about to fly…「……若沙戲影燈，馬騎人物，旋轉如飛。……」"
1600s #
- 1659, Christiaan Huygens, credited as the inventor of the Magic Lantern (Lanterna Magica)
1700s #
- 1725, Louis Bertrand Castel, The Ocular Harpsichord (Clavecin pour les yeux)
- 1780s, Paul Philidor/Paul de Philipsthal, Phantasmagoria shows
- 1797, Étienne-Gaspard Robert (Robertson), Fantasmagorie
1800s #
- 1815, Kaleidoscope, Sir David Brewster
- 1825, Thaumatrope
- 1833,
Phenakistiscope/Phantasmascope/Fantascope
- 1833, Thomas Mann Baynes - Fantascope (rats)
- 1834, Zoetrope
- 1877, Praxinoscope
- 1879, Zoopraxinoscope
- 1891, Kinetoscope
1900-1919 #
- 1915, Alexander Scriabin’s synaesthetic symphony Prometheus: The Poem of Fire was premiered in New York, the performance was accompanied with a colour organ/keyboard, “Clavier à lumières”, constructed by Preston S. Miller, the president of the Illuminating Engineering Society
1920–1929 #
- 1921, Hans Richter, Rhythmus 21 (silent film)
- 1921, Walther Ruttmann, Opus I
- 1921, Walther Ruttmann, Opus II
- 1923, Hans Richter, Rhythmus 23 (silent film)
- 1924, Viking Eggeling, Symphonie Diagonale (silent film)
- 1929, Len Lye, Tusalava (silent film)
1930–1939 #
Highlights #
- Graphical (drawn) sound experiments and inventions in Soviet Russia (Excellent research by Andrey Smirnov)
- Len Lye
- Oskar Fischinger
Examples #
- 1930, Variophone
- 1932, The invention of the Dufaycolor technique
- 193?, Nikolai Voinov, Paper Sound Technique
- 1934, Nikolai Voinov, The Thief
- 1935, Len Lye, A Colour Box
- 1935, Len Lye, Kaleidoscope (in Dufaycolor)
- 1936, Len Lye, Rainbow Dance (in Gasparcolor)
- 1937, Len Lye, Trade Tattoo (in Technicolor)
- 1938, Oskar Fischinger, An Optical Poem
- 1938, Len Lye, Color Flight
- 1939, Len Lye, Swinging the Lambeth Walk
1940–1949 #
1950–1959 #
- 1951, Norman McLaren, Pen Point Percussion
- 1955, Norman McLaren, Blinkity Blank
- 1956, Norman McLaren & Evelyn Lambart, Rhytmetic
- 1958, Norman McLaren, Le Merle
1960–1969 #
Highlights #
- Erkki Kurenniemi
- John Whitney
- Nam June Paik
- Daphne Oram (Oramics)
- Delia Derbyshire
- Wendy Carlos
Examples #
- 1961, John Whitney, Catalog
- 1963, Delia Derbyshire, The Original Dr. Who Title Sequence Music also listen to the full song
- 1964, Erkki Kurenniemi, Electronics in the World of Tomorrow
- 1964, Norman McLaren, Canon
- 1968, Norman McLaren, Pas de Deux
- 1968, John Whitney, Permutations
- 196?, Daphne Oram, Bird of Parallax
- 1968, Evelyn Lambart, Fine Feathers
- 1969, Evelyn Lambart, The Hoarder
1970–1979 #
Highlights #
- Rutt/Etra
- Scanimate
- Laurie Spiegel
Examples #
- 1971 Erkki Kurenniemi & Riitta Vainio Interactive dance performance with DIMI-O synthesizer
- 1972, Bill & Louise Etra, Laser Quantum L
- 197? Bill Etra & Louise Etra, Tales from Beneath the Sheets
- 1973, Bill Etra, Abstractions on a Bedsheet
- 1973, Bill Etra & Louise Etra, Heartbeat
- 1974, Steve Rutt and Bill Etra, Rutt/Etra Video Synthesizer Demo
- 1975, Lis Rhodes, Light Music
1980–1989 #
Highlights #
Examples #
- 1980 Michael Naimark, Displacements
- 1984, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Lorna
- 1986, Pipilotti Rist, I’m Not the Girl Who Misses Much
1990–1999 #
- 1992, Pipilotti Rist, Pickelporno
2000–2009 #
Highlights #
Examples #
- 2000, Hexstatic, Rewind album
- 2001, DJ Qbert, Wave Twisters
- 2002, The First Pixelache Festival (the early iterations of the festival were very much focused on VJ culture and audiovisual art, starting from 2009 the focus shifted towards the notion of Commons and art activism)
- 2004, The First Live Performers Meeting
- 2005, The First Mapping Festival
- ~2006->, Zimoun
- 2006, Daito Manabe. Rhizomatiks
2010–2019 #
- 2010, Anna Gawboy realized Alexander Scriabin’s Prometheus: The Poem of Fire with lighting designer Justin Townsend and the Yale Symphony Orchestra
- 2011-> Keijiro Takahashi
- 2016, Jerobeam Fenderson. Oscilloscope Music
- 2016, Robert Henke, CBM 8032 AV
- 2016, Amnesia Scanner, AS Chingy. Video by Sam Rolfes
- 2018, Fractal Fantasy (Sinjin Hawke & Zora Jones), AV Live
- 2018, Sam Rolfes, Absurd Arms
- 2019, Max Cooper, Repetition. Video by Kevin McGloughlin
- 2019, Max Cooper, Perpetual Motion (Video by Nick Cobby). Video by Nick Cobby. Making of video.
- 2019, Derek Holzer. Vector synthesis: a media archaeological investigation into sound-modulated light
2020–> #
List of things to be added #
Here is a list of suggestions from the students of Audiovisual Studio. These are suggestions that I was not able to yet place to specific decade or year: