One of my favorite distractions of late is Soundtoys.net, an assortment of digital art projects mostly created using embedded shockwave or flash, or available as installable programs across a variety of operating systems.
Some of my favorite soundtoys artworks use the entire soundtoys website as a self-referential database. the creators and contributors of soundtoys.net are to be commended for endlessly reinterpreting their site in new ways. take, for example, the “soundtoys.net content nagigator”, which allows navigation through selectable tags on either side of the interface which correspond to nodes on a radar-style screen. the nodes produce bleeps as the radar passes over them, and form curiously awkward beats when enough are present.
I love the aesthetic of such interfaces, but i can’t get over their novelty, since, in almost every instance, the site is far more navigable using the traditional methods. The sole exception to this shortcoming is the “Pond.Code.XMl” application on Levitated.net. It is similar to the various interfaces on soundtoys.net in that it is only useful in navigating the parent site, but its simplicity and linear nature make for far more intuitive browsing.
Every composition on levitated.net is in flash, but what makes the site special is their promotion of open-source material. Every piece is available for download as a flash file, and the site’s moderators encourage the free manipulation of their projects. The site, as a result, is not only a fascinating browse, but can be used as a sort of advanced tutorial for Flash.
other open-source stalwarts include the Ogg-Vorbis file format and the Linux operating system, both of which have grown into free and superior products.
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