Between Music and Painting | Brian Eno | 77 Million Paintings

Praised as one of the pioneers of ambient music, Brian Eno is an unshakeable legacy within the music industry. With musician, composer, record producer, and singer tacked to his name, Eno is showing his true skills as a multitalented elite with a kaleidoscopic audiovisual installation. First released as a software and DVD set in 2006 and then updated in 2008, 77 Million Paintings is now being exhibited as a generative work that combines sound, art and technology to morph into a static art piece that constantly transforms. The effect is both disorientating and magical, as multiple paintings converge into a splay of random shapes and colours. Audiences often wish they could watch art as it happens, and Eno’s installation provides observers with the opportunity to see numerous different artworks materialise in a single moment.

The pieces surprise me. I have the 77 Million Paintings running in my studio a lot of the time. Occasionally I’ll look up from what I’m doing and I think, ‘God, I’ve never seen anything like that before!’ And that’s a real thrill

Eno is no stranger to the concept of generative work and most of his music and art have revolved around creating an endless loop of creativity that places him in the same position as the audience. While traditional creations are fixed products, generative art uses computer algorithms to modify itself before your eyes, creating something new and ever-evolving. Presented by Red Bull Music Academy in New York’s Café Rouge, 77 Million Paintings features a pinwheel-shaped display at its hub surrounded by 13 flatscreen monitors that generate random combinations of images slowly transforming into different visuals.

I’m always interested in what you can do with technology that people haven’t thought of doing yet. I think that’s sort of a characteristic of the way I’ve worked ever since I started.

Accompanying the visual texture of the piece is Eno’s self-composed ambient music that gradually mutates as the artwork progressively alters. The understated sonic provides the perfect backdrop to the illusion created by the meshing paint-works, helping to synthesise a meditative environment that transports audiences into an otherwordly hypnosis. Both the music and the artwork are aletered using generative software. The piece is a continuation of Eno’s exploration of light and projected imagery as a flexible source of light that produces unknown and unpredictable patterns. 77 Million Paintings will be on exhibition form 6 May to 2 June 2013.