The music in the NIGHT SKY Series is derived from musical scores created in a series of six cyanotype monoprints, based on maps of the Northern Hemisphere night sky as it changes throughout the year. There are six individual star-pattern prints, each produced in an edition of five.
The blue and white cyanotype print is created by placing a negative over paper painted with a combination of two natural salts, and exposing in sunlight. Each star pattern is set within the manuscript by burning into the print, with the size of ‘star’ corresponding to its distance from Earth.
The resulting random musical notation is digitally translated into sound, with pitch varying according to the height of the star burn mark, time moving left to right and volume varying according to the size of mark. This visual information is built up gradually within the computer programme, with the audible result being that of a system gradually unfolding – becoming more chaotic as more marks are scanned across.
