AUDIOQUAROSCOPY
This website was started in 2020 to advertise everyday products I had created using quatroscopic patterns (see Collections menus above). With the recent development of audio quatroscopy (videos), the need arose, to document the concepts of quatroscopy and its development to Audio Quatroscopy in English (my starting homepage www.hansthierstein.ch is in German).
What is a Quatroscope
A Quatroscope is a square tunnel of four long mirrors that are joined at their long sides. The largest I built is about two meters long (left image). A quatroscope is similar to a kaleidoscope, but is made of four, rather than three, long mirrors. A quatroscope is longer than the traditional kaleidoscope, with a length at least 6 times the sides of the square. An object or an image placed at one end of the tunnel, when observed from the other end, is reflected multiple times in four directions (my face in the middle image).
An unexpected effect is the emergence of fantastic, new patters, when an appropriate image is observed through the quatroscope (right image). Such Quatroscopies consist of a single, square, central image, which is reflected three times in four directions (click on video of the Flying Nana by Niki de Saint Phalle, above right). My first quatroscopies were produced in 2014 using a 5x5 cm square, 33 cm long mirror tunnel, placed in front of my computer-screen. Images were move on my screen until an aesthetically pleasing pattern emerged, that could be recorded with my camera.
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The quality of the camera pictures was, however, rather poor and I resorted to producing quatroscopies digitally using Photoshop. A large number of such quatroscopies were produced from images of paintings, nature, attractive places, mounted on thin aluminum boards and shown at several art exhibitions. Some have been used for patterns on clothes, bags, shawls etc. (see collection menus above).
With the development of the quatroscope I have been able to build a bridge between three-dimensional installations (see www.hansthierstein.ch) and two-dimensional imagery.
AUDIOQUATROSCOPY
This most recent creation relates back to the mirror-tunnel, when I would enjoy the spectacle of 49 squares moving simultaneously in opposite directions. Reproducing that experience digitally and linking those movements to the sound of music, however, remained a dream for long. Eventually I found a programmer, who rose to the challenge, and whose services I could afford. His algorythm has allowed me to produce the Audioquatroscopies that are at continuously accumulating at www.youtube/@audioquatroscopy.
These quatroscopies show a large number of graphic movements, that go beyond just multiplying a single square image. I therefore decided, for those who are interested, to explain a few of the features I can play with, in an example, that is graphically traceable: A simple square graph of the four letters L O V E to the tune of George Gershwin's song "The man I love".
The algorithm I use is based on two design levels, as follows:
On one level, a square input image is transformed into a quatroscopic pattern (here a 7x7 matrix). Two funtions allow image manipulation at this level: Zooming in and out between a 1x1 to and a 7x7 matrix. This function is generally used at the beginning of my videos. This level is also used to move the 7x7 matrix, or zoomed parts of it, horizontally. These options are usually applied at the beginning of my video-tracks.
On a second level, the original input square, or parts of the 7x7 matrix, can also be manipulated to rotate, or to move horizontaly. Lateral movements, however, result in empty areas beyond the margins of the input square. An option allows to fill these empty areas by by mirroring the remaining parts of the input image into these empty areas along the boundaries of the original sides of the input image. These options on the second level, lead to a significant increase of design properties. The application of the above options are explained briefly for the initial 40 seconds of the Gershwin-LOVE Audioquatroscopy:
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Time in seconds
00:00 - 00:02 Emergence of single square of original image 900x900 pixel
00:03 - 00:07 Enlargement of central square to mirror matrix 3x3, squares separated by white lines
00:07 - 00:11 45° clockwise rotation of central square, leading to cut letters and empty corners
00:11 - 00:15 Filling of empty corners by mirroring across the boundaries of original square
00:16 - 21:00 Enlargement to quatroscopy matrix 7x7
00:21 - 00:25 Rotation of central square to 90° clockwise
00:26 - 00:33 Central square moved by half a square to left, with mirroring beyond empty space outside
half-square
00:33 - 00:42 45° rotation of central square counter-clockwise, still with filled half-squares
00:42 – 00:43 Elimination of white lines between squares
and so on ....
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To examine various everyday products with quatroscopic designs click "Product Collections" in menu above.