Live Visuals: History, Theory, Practice Steve Gibson 9781032252681

This volume surveys the key histories, theories and practice of artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers, architects and technologists that have worked and continue to work with visual material in real time.

Covering a wide historical period from Pythagoras's mathematics of music and colour in ancient Greece, to Castel's ocular harpsichord in the 18th century, to the visual music of the mid-20th century, to the liquid light shows of the 1960s and finally to the virtual reality and projection mapping of the present moment, Live Visuals is both an overarching history of real-time visuals and audio-visual art and a crucial source for understanding the various theories about audio-visual synchronization. With the inclusion of an overview of various forms of contemporary practice in Live Visuals culture - from VJing to immersive environments, architecture to design - Live Visuals also presents the key ideas of practitioners who work with the visual in a live context.

This book will appeal to a wide range of scholars, students, artists, designers and enthusiasts. It will particularly interest VJs, DJs, electronic musicians, filmmakers, interaction designers and technologists.

Steve Gibson is an interactive media artist and audio-visual performer. He has presented at many world-leading venues, including Ars Electronica, Banff Centre for the Arts, the European Media Arts Festival and Cabaret Voltaire. He is an Associate Professor in Innovative Digital Media at Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK. www.telebody.ws

Stefan Arisona is a computer scientist and artist with interests in computer graphics, extended reality, urban planning and digital art. He is a member of the Scheinwerfer VJ collective and leads XR software development at the Esri R&D Center Zurich, Switzerland. https://robotized.arisona.ch

Donna Leishman is a media artist, designer and researcher. Recent works include an AR project To Have & To Hold and Front, a modern cautionary tale about social media. She is an Associate Professor in Communication Design at Northumbria University. http://6amhoover.com

Atau Tanaka conducts research in music human-computer interaction (HCI), focusing on embodied musical interaction. By using muscle sensing in performance, the human body becomes a musical instrument. He carries out his work at Goldsmiths, the Bristol Interaction Group and the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme Paris Nord. www.ataut.net

"Live Visuals is a timely and compelling account of the relationship between sound and image. It charts a historical course that is long overdue. The book brings together an impressive array of voices that in combination mix historical context, theoretical analysis, and reflections on contemporary practice, to great effect. It is an invaluable resource for audio-visual students and scholars and makes a very significant contribution to intellectual debate in this field." Professor Stephen Kennedy, Professor of Critical Theory and Practice, Greenwich University

"Live Visuals presents a timely historical and conceptual overview of the art and design of live media. Featuring the work of the early pioneers to some of today's leading designers of spatial media, Live Visuals offers a framework for creative practitioners and students of the art of immersive visual experiences." Damien Smith, Creative Partner, ISO, http://isodesign.co.uk