Absorbed #426

A collaboration between leading British high-end audio brand KEF, generative artist hieroglyphica, and creative studio Parameta, Absorbed embodies the process of noise becoming high-fidelity sound through KEF’s Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT™).

MAT™ makes the KEF sound what it is: absorbing unwanted distortion to deliver pure, accurate sound exactly as the artist intended. Inspired by this intricacy, Absorbed illustrates pseudorandom networks of patterns, slowly emerging and transforming into the maze-like form of MAT™. Clarity is revealed, noise is absorbed – high-fidelity is found.

The noise fields used in Absorbed are of two distinct types: conventional gradient noise and “sinusoidal” noise, an original algorithm developed for this series. The use of animation as artistic medium reflects the artists’ belief that no single frame can capture the full range of complexity found in the tension between sound and noise, and lets collectors observe for themselves this ever-shifting dialogue. A more extensive discussion of the algorithms used in Absorbed can be found in hieroglyphica’s companion article on fx(text).

• spacebar will pause and resume the animation
• s will save a still image of the current frame
• technically minded collectors can consult the index.html file for info on how to render and save high-resolution images
• use of hardware acceleration in Chrome may impact performance

Founded by BBC engineer Raymond Cooke in 1961, KEF is a leading British innovator of high-end audio products including HiFi speakers, subwoofers, architectural speakers, wireless speaker-systems, and headphones. Find out more at kef.com or visit our Discord at discord.com/invite/u48Z9yjY2q.