Yann Novak - Scalar Fields (2019)

From Yann
Scalar Fields is a body of work encompassing audiovisual installation, prints, and sound works initiated in 2013. In these works I used the idea of the scalar field as a simple framework to experiment with time-based works that are not dependent on time when experienced.

I wanted to explore slowing down video to the point that change was imperceptible and create sound with no attack or decay, only sustain. My intent was to create a time-based piece that could be experienced more as a painting or sculpture could: a static object that gains meaning though prolonged observation.

I was interested in what would happen when the audience was given agency over their experience. As the series progressed, the concept drifted further and further from the title's formal association with math or physics––instead the framework developed a life of its own.

This release documents the sound elements from two of the audiovisual installations in the series: Scalar Field (f9bf3b, fde3a7, 4183d7, 1f3a93) shown in Los Angeles in 2016 and Scalar Field (f89406, f2784b, f64747, f62459) shown at the Dancity Festival in Foligno in 2015.