Reflections on the construction of meaning through immanent visual association: Works by Edgard Varese, Bill Viola, Alva Noto, Curtis Roads and Brian O'Reilly

Since the advent of digital video editing and projection, multimedia presentation in the concert space is no longer exclusive to the music of stadium-sized popular music events. Increasingly, many in the field of new music are incorporating elements of mixed media presentation. Examples of this trend include performances across the spectrum of new music such as Sensorband, Nico Muhly, Leafcutter John, and more. This paper discusses the artistic and thematic accomplishments of four different approaches to audio-visual association before discussing the influences of these approaches, their incorporation or rejection, into my own work Red River. (Gillies, 2011)