32-bit Noir Michael Trommers Transmissions from the

Technological Sublime

Transmissions from the Technological Sublime is a panoramic multimedia installation that depicts a
nocturnal landscape of non-place populated by infrastructure rather than people. Hatched as a MFA thesis
project within OCAD Universitys integrated media program by Torontos Michael Trommer, the
audiovisual piece renders highways, shipping channels, airports, and office parks as uncanny interstitial
zones of contemplation. Slow rumbling drones coalesce with long static shots and the viewer is left to
soak up the atmospherics. With animations that are decidedly un-photorealistic, the piece capitalizes on a
tension between the everyday and a somewhat ominous and foreboding reproduction of it.
Taking an unconventional audio first approach to crafting this piece, each of Transmissions from the
Technological Sublimes cinematic vignettes emerge from individual field recordings. Over email
Trommer describes the majority of his recording sites as open urban or exurban areas in which the
ambient sound level was comparatively quiet, and how he auditioned sounds and soundscapes that
were recorded from significant distances (across bodies of water or parking lots, etc.). Harmonic factory
hums reflecting off of open water and filtered by forests, for example can become these euphonious
modulated textures, he concludes, describing his search for soundscapes to resynthesize, 3D model,
and animate in Blender.

 Transmissions from the Technological Sublime, installed at OCADUs Black Box Facility

Transmissions from the Technological Sublime is displayed in an ultra letterbox 5.33:1 aspect ratio via
three synchronized HD projectors. When asked about his restrained, rudimentary CG aesthetic, Trommer
foregrounds his desire to cultivate listeners rather than viewers. The intention was to make the visuals
sparse so as to allow the sound to evoke the environmentto fill in the spaces. And listeners do have a lot
of room in which to appreciate the nuance in these spartan scenesbroadcast via six audio channels
arranged in a hexagonal array with a central subwooferas the installations sound had far a more visceral
spatiality than any of the super-flat cinematography.
Devoid of humans, Transmissions from the Technological Sublimes default protagonist is the black sedan
that cruises its many Ballardian landscapes. Just as Trommers taste in office parks is banal, so is his taste
in automobiles. A Ford Crown Victoria, the car is a model commonly used by taxi drivers and the police.
Although this is minimal information, it nonetheless suggests a fairly specific type of individual, which is
as much detail as hell provide on the mystery driver. While Trommer wont reveal their identity, he does
speak to their significance. It is important that this person remained encased in the car; although theyre
obviously wandering these vast, perspectival spaces they remain entrapped, both within the circular,

looping narrative and the sonically and spatially sealed confines of their automobile. Perhaps it is ideal if
we keep this sonic shut-in in mind while we navigate Trommers exurban soundscapes.
Michael Trommer