Semiconductor are Ruth Jarman and Joseph Gerhardt; together they make Sound Films - both art installations and live performances. Their work explores how sound becomes synonymous with image.
Brilliant Noise: Using raw black and white pictures from solar astronomy data vaults, these pictures of the sun can be watched with a selection of soundtracks.
Nanowebbers: Nano environments that are created via a special script that adjust the images based upon the audio, creating subsctructures that resemble crystalline substances.
D&C: How does it feel to have your work presented on DVD, when most of your pieces are meant to be experiences large-scale or as installations?
Semiconductor: Just as film directors edit their work to be seen with a certain sense of grandeur in the cinema our work also has its own perfect location whether it is a site specific artwork, working with surround sound or is meant to be viewed large or small scale.
Varied situations can bring exciting new things to the work, relationships we have not considered before, new ways of seeing the work or coincidences that help re-interpret the work for the viewer. We like to encourage these accidents, and within this framework, making our work available on DVD certainly sets the work up to be experienced in wide ranging environments, by varied audiences with widely differing expectations.
You could say that the work is more likely to be misinterpreted, if someone buys the DVD from a high street store and it's sitting in amongst big budget movies or chart music there's clearly more chance of losing or confusing context completely, but were not scared of this, and we like to try and promote accessibility, rather than stick just to the exclusivity of many art world situations.
We're also interested in what the viewer brings to the work; it's as much about the viewer's experience of the world around them, and what they take away with them from the piece. The DVD can help in personalising that experience.
http://www.semiconductorfilms.com/
WorldsInFluxDVD.html