Computer Music

Erkki Kurenniemi / Finland / 1966 / Czech Premiere / 6 min.

synopsis

The massive physical presence of the Elliott 803 computer from the Department of Nuclear Physics at the University of Helsinki and the IBM 1130 from the Computer Centre at the University of Turku is intimidating. But out of the coexistence of man and machine, music is eventually born. Originally a silent 16mm film, in 2003 the composer added the song The Dream of Sahara (1967), which he composed together with Karim Hakala, who stars in the film.

biography

Erkki Kurenniemi (1941–2017) was a Finnish media artist and electronic music pioneer. In the 1960s, he made several short experimental 16mm films in which his fascination with the world of computers and data is intertwined with close-ups of the organic realm. In the 1970s, he created a synthesizer that translates the electrical activity of the human brain and the conductivity of the skin into sound. Since the early 1980s, he has been collecting personal video footage to create material for the eventual recreation of his consciousness in the digital virtual world of the future.