Temper is a multimedia exhibition and project featuring digital prints, online video art, as well as a real-time interactive audiovisual performance. With this work, I aimed to capture the essence of nature through combining music and video. I chose to work with nature’s basic elements – water, fire, earth, and wind – portraying each in its unique form.
Water teaches us about flow, how emotions rise and fall in its intensity, and the importance of surrendering to life’s currents. I wanted the audience to experience emotional tensions and ultimately a feeling of release, mirroring how water always returns to the ocean.
Earth as an element teaches us about flexibility. I aimed to convey the diversity and the constant transformation of the natural world, using natural sounds and bongo drums to evoke earth’s vibrancy – because for me, earth is life.
Fire on the other hand, teaches us about life force and energy. symbolises warmth and home to me; it represents the soul of the earth, a steady flame burning it each of us.
Wind teaches us about change. I wanted to portray wind’s unpredictability and sudden shifts through the elements of surprise, reflected in unexpected changes in the music and videos.
About the title “Temper”
The title Temper was derived from the word temperaments. With its roots in ancient Greek medicine, it refers to the four basic personalities, namely: sanguine (air), choleric (fire), melancholic (earth) and phlegmatic (water). The word temperaments are sometimes used as a synonym for the four elements in nature. In music, the verb tempering refers to the process of altering the size of an interval by making it narrower or wider during the tuning of a musical instrument.
In the framework of the audiovisual performance, the title Temper refers to several processes. Firstly, it refers to the process of altering musical and visual elements during live performance to depict the temperament of each element in nature. Secondly, it refers to the interplay between different mediums such as videos, field recordings and piano music to create a cognitive and emotional experience. Finally, it refers to the exchange of meaning between artwork and viewer, performer and audience.
Process and Technique
Throughout my work, I use layering and blending to convey the idea of nature as a multi-dimensional experience. Layering and blending as a technique is used to create depth and texture. The aim is to capture the density of the natural elements and the multi-dimensionality of the natural world.
During the performance, the videos are layered by means of a video mixer and multiple projector “actors” built into the interactive media software used during the performance. Different notes on the piano are assigned to trigger specific videos and the piano also triggers effects and determines how the layered videos will blend with each other.
Ultimately, the selecting, editing and layering of the videos are happening in real-time during the performance. Not only are videos triggered, but a series of field recordings from nature are also triggered to create a soundscape. On top of the videos and soundscape, melody and harmony in the piano compositions are layered to add to the multi-dimensional experience.
