Tomato Quintet
music from tomatoes in a sound art installation
(2007 - 2011)
Summer 2011 at NAMOC , Beijing.
A collaboration with Greg Niemeyer first presented at Machine Project Gallery, LA
The sensor data has been used in five movements, including Cefiru a celletto solo composed after the installation piece. See also Greg's tomato site. Hi-res image: Photo © Susan LaTempa
Five vats of tomatoes were ripened for 10 days in the Tomato Quintet exhibition. Greg calls it a "New Media Still Life." During the ripening process music was generated in real time by computer algorithms influenced by CO2, temperature and light readings from sensors in each vat. After the ripening, time was sped up and new music created at different time scales. A stand-alone computer music piece, "Tomato Music," captures the spirit of the whole thing. At dinner time, a (human) trio accompanied one of the movements during the closing pasta-fest. Recent versions with salsa feed at the closing and salsa music by Jacob Wittenberg.