Based on onformative’s large scale audiovisual installation Meandering River, Meander I is a picturesque interpretation of transformation and change. Over time, landscapes are gradually shaped by natural forces. Indiscernible to the naked eye, we are only able to experience one moment at a time. The fluctuations and the rhythmic movement of rivers are a glimpse into the past, as traces provide evidence of the constant transformations that surround us.

The installation Meandering River is comprised of real-time visuals and music composed by an AI. The digital artwork reinterprets the shifting behaviour of rivers in the landscape as they contract and expand over the seasons. The sound composition was produced using the Google’s Magenta Performance RNN learning model and a custom-built procedural system and composed by Berlin creative studio Kling Klang Klong.

Based on a bespoke algorithm, the rippling and oscillating movement inherent in the generated imagery provides a vantage point that transforms our understanding of progress, emphasising the power of natural forces as they alter landscapes over time. The rhythmic patterns of minor changes to riverbeds are not usually visible as they slowly happen over decades. Meandering River makes these rhythms visible and thereby leaves the observer with a humbling sense of the unpredictability of change and the beauty of nature.

For Meander I, onformative leaves the visual connection to satellite imagery and landscapes behind to interpret the concept in a more discrete way, focusing on the meandering movements and visual potential inherent in this natural phenomenon. Meander I version for Sedition has no sound, as a purely visual rendition of the artwork.

Meandering River was presented at in Funkhaus Sound Chamber, Berlin, 2018; UN Art Center, Shanghai, 2019; and Google I/O, Mountain View, 2019.

Credits:
Creative Direction: Cedric Kiefer
Production: Aurélien Krieger
Code & Design: Henryk Wollik
Research: João da Fonseca, Luca Lolli
Audio Concept & Composition: kling klang klong
Hardware Provider: ICT AG | Berlin