“Study for a cosmic city” is inspired by a utopian urban proposal exposed by the composer and architect Iannis Xenakis in an essay entitled “La Ville Cosmique” (1965). The structures characterizing the utopian city are designed using superquadratic curves which can describe reasonable variations of amplitude and pitch. Parameter values extracted from buildings and paths are used to process sound materials from unidentified radio transmissions actually received worldwide. In the graphic representation, each building transmits a specific radio signal whose quality depends on the cursor’s position. Paths on the ground, instead, define the meso- and macro-formal articulation of the audiovisual work.
Julian Scordato is a composer, multimedia artist, and technologist. He studied composition and electronic music at the Conservatory of Venice and sound art at the University of Barcelona. Co-founder of the Arazzi Laptop Ensemble, he was a research assistant at SaMPL – Sound, and Music Processing Lab, Padua. As a technologist, Scordato has presented results related to interactive performance systems and graphic notation tools in conferences and lectures. He currently holds the chair of electroacoustic music composition at the Conservatory of Cuneo, Italy. His award-winning electroacoustic and audiovisual works have been performed and exhibited in international festivals and prestigious institutions.
