Eric Deis Interview

How do you define "soundtoys" ?

1. To make or convey a certain impression, or to have a certain import, when heard; hence, to seem; to appear; as, this reproof sounds harsh; the story sounds like an invention. 2. Fig.: To ascertain, or try to ascertain, the thoughts, motives, and purposes of (a person); to examine; to try; to test; to probe. 3. To try to learn the attitudes or opinions of. 4. To look into a possibility; investigate. 5. An articulation made by the vocal apparatus. 6. To make a noise; to utter a voice; to make an impulse of the air that shall strike the organs of hearing with a perceptible effect. 7. Vibrations transmitted through an elastic solid or a liquid or gas, with frequencies in the approximate range of 20 to 20,000 hertz, capable of being detected by human organs of hearing. 8. manipulate manually with no purpose or aim; often without being conscious of doing so. 9. To treat something casually or without seriousness. 10. Something of little importance; a trifle. 11. an artifact designed to be played with.

On a personal level, why do you make this work?
See above.

What are you project and your work about?
See above.

How long have you been working in this area?
I began working with digital technologies as a means of artistic expression since early 1994.

Were you an artist/ musician first who got into using computers/the net, or did you respond to the net as a medium in an artistic way?
First, I was tech-junky seduced by technology as a means to its own. Second, I became an artist within a practice abandoned of digital technologies. Thirdly, I now produce artworks in the digital medium.

What/ who has influenced you in your work? (themes, other artists etc)
Writing/works of Duchamp + Roland Barthes, the first girl I kissed, a movie I saw last week, a conversation with my grandfather.

Are there any other artists covering the same field as you?
Of course.

Do you see this work as art?
Art is a product of intention. I intended to create this work.


With regard to 'soundtoys' especially, why do you think the audiovisual form is so key to the net?
It?s the structure of the medium and two of our most predominant senses.

What defines the aesthetics of new interactive art?
The Human Experience. Digital media allows for the user/viewer to engage in a new level of interactivity within artwork, which is quite different from the levels of interactivity found in the visual engagement and conceptual analysis of a painting, or being taken through a roller coaster of expectations, surprise, and fulfillment while immersed in a movie.

How important is the visual aspect in the 'new' relationship of the audiovisual?
Two words ? Audio, Visual.

Does the net promote visual awareness that is unique to it?
Yes, but what really needs to be asked is it first-class or poor aesthetic awareness?
The ability to produce visual materials has been reduced to a novelty through digital tools that are explicitly designed for ease of use, enabling millions of people who would never otherwise realize their own outlet of personal expression, through the application of a few templates and filters. But I never said that was a bad thing. Humans are naturally creative, and should be encouraged at any opportunity.

How novel do you feel generative music and interactivity is?
The technological forms of generative music and interactivity are absolutely novel, just as acrylic painting, electronic music, photography, and digital video. But once you move beyond novelty, then things get interesting.

Do you think there is a history to audiovisual work?
Yes.

Would you describe yourself as a multimedia artist, a net.artist, programmer, or none of the above?
None of the above.

What software do you use most and why?
notepad.exe ? unmitigated data production.

Can you recommend three urls to soundtoys?

"What does an artist do for the economy anyway?"
http://www.canadacouncil.ca/archival/anreport/ar-part3.htm

"The Social Ideology of the Motorcar" - by Andr? Gorz
http://rts.gn.apc.org/socid.htm

"The Situationist International Text Library"
http://library.nothingness.org/articles/SI/


Copyright ? 1998 - 2005 soundtoys.net?
All rights reserved.