Motus-qualius. From Motive Creation to Audio-Visual Experience
The “Motus-qualius” project is an innovative musical composition that combines minimalist structural principles with techniques from both contemporary and traditional music. It explores how various interdisciplinary fields—such as music, movement, visual art, and information technology—interact to create new creative and interpretive possibilities. A key component of the project is an Arduino-based interactive system that utilizes motion-tracking sensors to generate sounds and images in response to the performer’s movements. Movement, as the driving force behind the composition, becomes the focal point where the artist’s subjective experience meets communication through gesture. This approach redefines the role of the performer, shifting it from interpreter to creator, and opens a space for the exploration of new forms of expression. In “Motus-qualius,” a glove designed as an instrument not only generates sounds but also serves as a visual medium, bringing the entire composition to life and inviting improvisation and interaction. As part of the Contemporary Musical Memory conference, the project investigates how modern technologies shape our perception and experience of musical memory through artistic interactions. An interdisciplinary collaboration between a musician, a dancer, a computer scientist, and a visual artist creates an environment to explore new ways of synthesizing movement and music. By analyzing the interactions between different artistic disciplines, this exploration demonstrates how they influence each other, enriching our interpretation of art as a dynamic and evolving phenomenon. “Motus-qualius” thus becomes a space where musical memory is not only auditory but also a visual experience. This fusion leads to a deeper understanding, memorization, and reinterpretation of music, fostering a richer and more complex aesthetic experience. Contemporary musical memory, therefore, extends beyond the mere storage of sounds; it encompasses the emotions and experiences associated with music. Sound material becomes a medium that not only evokes emotions but also records personal experiences, such as individual memories tied to the place, time, and people surrounding the artistic performance. Consequently, the impact of our research efforts is aimed at a broad community of artists, researchers, and art enthusiasts interested in new forms of expression and the integration of technology into artistic practices. Our work seeks to enrich musical output while also expanding the boundaries of understanding art as an interdisciplinary phenomenon, where the performer’s movement and gesture become central creative elements. Ultimately, the “Motus-qualius” project not only explores music as an art form but also redefines the performer’s role as both creator and interpreter. This complex interaction between technology, movement, and music represents a significant step towards the future of interactive musical art, contributing to a deeper understanding of contemporary musical memory in the context of dynamic artistic practices.
Keywords: new technologies, contemporary music, audio-visual composition, performance, intermediality
Biographies
PhD Beata Oryl Graduate of the Stanislaw Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdansk, specializing in Rhythmics. Currently employed at her Alma Mater. In her activities she focuses on the relationship between music and movement, looking for various forms of artistic expression, using elements of contemporary dance technique, individual movement expression, bodily self-awareness affecting the expressiveness of the resulting creations. Her choreographic interests revolve around new technology and an interdisciplinary approach to the creative process, while her achievements include original works on stage movement, choreography for plays, operas and concerts.
Prof. dr hab., Monika Karwaszewska polish music theoretician. She is a graduate of the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk. There she is working in the position of an full professor. She is the editor-in-chief of the Academy’s Publishing House, a member of the international editorial team of science journals. She’s a member of the Musicologists ’Section of the Polish Composers’ Union and of the Association of Polish Artists Musicians. She is also the author of the monograph Andrzej Dobrowolski. The Music of Pure Form. Her scientific interest focuses on the theory of music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, accounting for intermedial and intertextual methodologies. She publishes articles in Polish and foreign monographs and science journals and is a recipient of the Bronze Cross of Merit awarded by the President of the Republic of Poland for services to Polish culture.
Michał Garnowski Masters of Fine Arts degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. He is a visual artist particularly interested in video- and filmmaking, working on commercial and artistic projects. Although he has participated in numerous exhibitions, his main artistic activity is 3d mapping creation and video live performance for concerts. He explores various fields of video art, starting from plain motion design, through found footage remix editing, ending with generative 3d abstract animations.