record – LABS

Thesis Info

Thesis Supervisor: Prof. Dimitris Charitos (external supervisor, University of Athens, Greece)

Keywords: art & technology, visual music, audiovisual performance, digital art, installation, media art histories

Abstract: 200-500 words: Iannis Xenakis, one of the most influential composers of the second half of the 20th century, created a series of audiovisual installations known as the Polytopes, from 1968 to 1978. The Diatope was the last, and arguably the most ambitious realization in the series of the Polytopes. The title of the thesis, "Music to be seen", is derived from a text by Xenakis (1982b), describing the visual spectacle and his approach to “composing with light. The Diatope was dismantled and ultimately destroyed shortly after its two presentations in 1978 and 1979. Today only the music component, the electroacoustic piece La Légende d’Eer survives intact. Our aim is to research the Diatope as an installation consisting equally of all media employed - music,light,and architecture - in the context of Xenakis’ quest for an art that develops in space and time. With the Polytopes, Xenakis articulated his coherent vision of a “synergy of art and technology”; however, these works have not yet been included in (media) art historical narratives. We therefore seek to critically examine and re-contextualize the Diatope from a (media) art historical perspective, examining the ways in which acoustic and visual spaces were negotiated within it.