I organized, planned, ran, and also performed in my own multi-sensory music event as the capstone to my Computer Music Concentration at Stanford. I did the live-coded visuals, while my friends DJ’ed. See below for details about how it all went down!
Watch the video below! (re-recording)
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FMcikV45AZ-s%3Ft%3D285%26fbclid%3DIwAR1DhV0Uf_GGoTxQD2BqtCahS2mrpng0WzEIpYFwt8HZOP_nK-UBKFMoOH4&h=AT0L7FDjBLMgagR-_zBPzOCx-9-kj7vlEWXMqc3k2JZ4gi7kphN8ZgaYydJ88VIAEpM5vTmzxDg8QEfjf8z8Lqw9pj7dEy8t4GpgwpG-Og1vbyFH6mcAp8kL2-o92ZhW7r-HWecjwiXsDvFsdGib&__tn__=H-R&c[0]=AT1ta33clrX5nbq0sIQLMOI6uPmUhQ4VbABpwvAa-c1YWGUmvf8JzuYb8ANiplxyxNDfdAop2UYSCKI7X3kPjc75NLJxUKMu-ZhrPt9FksLn3QJYedO5TOolgGw4soRsK-B_ObW6TqMt5w
Learn more about the event itself below:
lemonaut presents sensorium: a multi-sensory party built for symsys students. You've been waiting for a party like this. It's time to end the year out right.
May 28 11pm-late @ EBF, Stanford ★SIGHT: a psychedelic livecoding visual performance by lem0naut [that’s me!] ★SOUND: by kk.shucko, fallen matter, and A-Tam ★SMELL: build your own scents that take you back to when you were 6 and there were no psets [problem sets] ★TASTE: multi-flavored food (warning: addictive) ★TOUCH: cozy places to chill/sit/lay down
Lineup: ★"A-Tam presents a selection of cerebral percussive textures and ethereal soundscapes driven by danceable hypnotic beats. Dive into a surreal world that blends the artificial with the organic." with visuals performed in RhythmScope ★"kk.shucko and fallen matter present a b2b flurry of leftfield club contortions and twisted rhythms. An undersea plunge into warped worlds and crystalline colors." accompanied with live visuals by lemonaut in Hydra
The sensorium event was inspired by my love of Symbolic Systems. SymSys students all share the qualities of being multi-contextual and delightfully interdisciplinary. They might seem meek and unassuming upon first glance, yet they contain multitudes; they need multiple contexts to be truly appreciated and seen for all that they are. I wanted to create an event that was itself multi-contextual, that needed to be attended to with each of the senses in order to grasp the full picture. Sensorium is a celebration of the sheer weirdness of life and conscious experience.
Through a series of coincidences, I happened to meet Linda and her friend Mai, the President of the Stanford DJ Club, and Sensorium was born. I really respect their respective eyes for aesthetics, and when I heard them DJ, I saw Sensorium in my head. Their music gave me such synesthesia that I could easily see the moving patterns and textures, many of the same ones that you will see in the video. It was really an effortless experience transforming their soundwaves into visuals using hydra (see hydra.ojack.xyz).
Similarly, the scent aspect of the event could only have existed after I attended an event for the Qualia Research Institute, where I got to try a vast variety of curated perfumes, which I found mind-expanding and shocking. In a vast collection of perfumes, there will certainly be at least one that you really resonate with, and makes you surprised something as simple as a small can initiate such a strong gestalt of emotion/memories/thoughts/intentions/reactions. This inspired me to ask QRI to donate to us a small collection of aromachemicals for attendees to be able to craft their own scent experiences/journeys.
I’m really proud and grateful to have run this event, thankful to everybody who was involved and helped make it happen, and really want to do something like this again sometime!
New video by Cody Hergenroeder