Grafill Moving Image

Isomorphic Visual Music: a Ph.D. in animation

Join us for a very interesting talk when Trygve Nielsen will present his PhD project in animation.
This presentation will conclude a 4-year long practical artistic research work on visual music – an artistic practice that is concerned with correspondences between music and visual art.

June 14th, at Grafill Oslo
Doors open at 16:30
Event 17:00 to 20:30
Agenda:
- presentation and screenings of animation sequences.
- launch of the book Visual Music Design Fiction
- mingling with Q& A
- concert with live animation on oscilloscopes featuring flutist Morten Bjørbæk Møller and Kristian Johannessen on synthesizer.
There will also be some shorter performances, a small exhibition of artifacts from the project

Event is free, but limited seats available, book your ticket here:
https://event.checkin.no/224035/isomorphic-visual-music-a-ph-d-in-animation

More details:
Abstract: Isomorphic Visual Music is an artistic research, Ph.D. project within the field of animation. It builds on the tradition of visual music; audio visual art practices that are concerned with correspondences between music and visual art. The focus in this project is on the physical correspondences – between acoustics and optics – how music and moving images can have transferable physical qualities as e.g. both are energy in wave form, both are time based or as both can be transmitted through analog or digital signals with comparable or interchangeable signal chains. The project aims to create working methods where sound can be converted to vision, vision to sound, repeatedly, and still maintain its essential form throughout the process – an isomorphic visual music.
This practical, experimental investigation applies hand drawn animation and is focused on how this, in combination with both older and contemporary media technology, can be an outset for new artistic creations in visual music. Visual music, and related traditions in media art, are here understood as being shaped by, and having the ability to shape, the developments in media technology, and the project offers critical perspectives on this close relationship.
The artistic outcome of the project has three distinct parts: Polyphonic Visuals, where rhythmic structures based on musical composition techniques are applied on animated sequences and it is suggested how these compositional processes can be run back and forth between music and animation. Hand Drawn Sound, where recently developed software is applied to convert line animations to a signal that can be played simultaneously as sound through speakers and as moving images on an oscilloscope screen. And Visual Music Design Fiction where possible and impossible ideas, concepts and art works that turn sound into vision and vision into sound are presented through texts and illustrations.
The Ph.D. project contributes ideas, techniques, strategies, and working methods for making isomorphic visual music. The artistic experiments take the form of animated sequences, illustrations, and text. These have been performed in concerts, presented at exhibitions, are released in books, as articles and are available online. These contributions demonstrate how close physical and/or isomorphic correspondence between music and moving images provide novel modes of making audiovisual art.

Grafill Moving Image: Årsmøte 2026!
May 12th 18:00-20:00

Grafill Moving Image: Årsmøte 2026 Årsmøtene er en mulighet for medlemmer til å bruke stemmeretten sin og bli kjent med alle de fantastiske frivillige som driver gruppene.

On April 25th, there will be a day of screenings and seminars focusing on animated films. It's Frame by Frame, and Grafill Moving Image is a proud sponsor of the day!
They have a fabulous line-up ready and the ticket sales have just started on Vega's website:
https://checkout.ebillett.no/287/events/57484/purchase/setup?kanal=dxf
Don't miss this inspirational day with great speakers!