Step 1: If you aren’t familiar with the concept of Op Art, read up. It employs optical illusions as raw material for artistic expression.

Step 2: Think about what the sonic equivalent of Op Art would be. For example, consider the Shepard tone (the illusion of continually rising or descending pitch).

Step 3. Record a piece of Op Audio resulting from your thinking in Step 2.

Track notes: 

Another really thought/imagination provoking prompt. Thanks to Marc and Nate Trier for the initiative!

Immediately I thought of Bridget Riley's work, which I've always loved; especially her intricate colour works, which started in the 80s/90s onwards with pieces like Achæan (1981) and Nataraja (1993). I've always appreciated the considered selection of colour palette along with the rigid repetition of lines or oblique shapes. Throughout her career, Riley has meticulously studied the use of colour in paintings across history, as well as colour's application in cultures around the world. Her late work - from the 2000's onwards introduced elements of curvature and fluidity, and the semblance of repetition and repeated patterns became less apparent/distinct. 

In a sonic/musical sense, her work from these respective periods suggests a strong correlation to movement/momentum, pulses, repeated motifs, polyrhythm, phase relation and colouration of tone, etc. 

I thought it might be interesting to reference this late development in Riley's work: from the rigid forms and colour palette of Achæan (1981) and Nataraja (1993)through to her more recent works, which pull away from repetition, yet eschew the broad colour palette to only a couple of colours (such as Blue and Pink, 2001). My piece is sort of caught between works such as Nataraja and Blue and Pink.

I used a customised synth patch on my microkorg and routed the output to three effects pedals (an Ooh Wah, DD7 looper and Earthquaker Transmisser). 

The Ooh Wah is a rare bespoke pedal which I'm borrowing from a friend at the moment. It's essentially a series of bandpass filters combined with a sequencer. It adds a nice warbling effect to the synth, whilst pressing out some interesting harmonic characteristics.

The DD7 is, well..a DD7. I'm using it to capture sections of my playing and repeat infinitum, whilst overdubbing additional sections as the piece goes on.

Lastly, the Transmisser is a glorified modulated reverb, which I've employed towards the end of the piece to essentially 'blend' the colours into a homogenous impression.

It's longer than my usual submissions, since I felt a length of at least four minutes was the only way I could get this idea across.

[disquiet0410] Achæan, Nataraja, Blue and Pink

Tristan Louth-Robins is a South Australian artist working principally in the medium of sound art and field recording. Ideas of sound and its signification are key elements in Louth-Robins' practice, traversing the space between the visual and aural his work is realised through the mediums of recordings, installation, visual art and performance. He is interested in sound and its associative implications - including its relationship to objects, technology, urban space, memory and the natural world. 


Since 2005, Louth-Robins has presented work in Australia and internationally as a solo artist, whilst also collaborating with artists, writers, researchers, musicians and performers. 

Working across a vast array of activities encompassing composition, sound design, installation art, field recording and workshops, his work has been featured in events such as the Adelaide Festival of Arts (2006), The National Regional Arts Festival (2012), Mildura-Wentworth Arts Festival (2013), Fairfax Festival (2013) and Adelaide Fringe Festival (2014); and selected works exhibited at galleries including The Australian Experimental Art Foundation (2009), SASA Gallery (2012, 2015), Light Square Gallery (2012) and FELT Space (2015). His audio works have been broadcast on radio including Radio National, Classic FM, The BBC (UK), Acoustic Frontiers (USA) and RBB (Germany).