Sound
The first case of infection caused by COVID-19 was reported in Wuhan City, China, in December 2019. Since then COVID-19 has evolved into a global pandemic impacting our financial, educational, and social systems – including how we create and exhibit artworks.
“Audio Pandemic” by Ali Choudhry and Dr. Matthew Latif is a novel, timely, and innovative project that uses the processes of “data sonification”, “data visualisation”, and “algorithmic composition” in a creative context to create audio-visual representations of the COVID-19 virus. Each of the audio-visual pieces is composed using statistical information and genomic data gathered from the World Health Organisation and the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, China. Firstly, audible representations of mortality and genomic data for the DNA and protein structure of COVID-19 are made with each note algorithmically correlated to every point in each data set. Secondly, a visualisation technique that uses multi-colored nested rectangles is used to display the hierarchical data that underlies each composition.
The results are a collection of mesmerising, haunting, and unique pieces of contemporary art that challenge audience preconceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Audio Pandemic by Ali Choudhry and Dr Matthew Latif is created for Shelter 2020.