JAMES H. CONNOLLY


VGA AUDIO/VIDEO SYNTHESIZER

The VGA Audio/Video synthesizer is an instrument I created for live audio/video performances with modified VGA computer monitors. I’ve performed with it solo and alongside Kyle Evans as part of Cracked Ray Tube. The synthesizer consists of a hacked VGA cable in which the red, green, and blue pins are driven by the output of a sound mixer set up to do no-input mixing. The instrument is housed within a 1978 TRS-80 Microcomputer monitor and contains audio inputs connected directly to the red, green, and blue wires of the vga cable, potentiometers to discretely mix and control the brightness and intensity of the red, green, and blue channels, potentiometers controlling the horizontal and vertical sync of the vga monitors, and audio input and outputs with potentiometers to control the volume of the no-input mixing signal before it is sent to the speakers.

TUTORIAL

Hacking a VGA cable to bend audio into video.

HARDWARE DIAGRAMS

IMAGES


VIDEOS




I am a Chicago-based artist, educator, museum worker, and archivist. My videos, open-source tools, and real-time audio/video performances undermine the interfaces and break through the algorithms of digital and analog systems, examining hidden power structures and liberating latent aesthetic materialities in cathartic and captivating compositions.

I am an Adjunct Associate Professor in the department of Film, Video, New Media, and Animation at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Collection Manager of the Roger Brown Study Collection.


NEWS/EVENTS

2022

September 10, 2022, 8:30 pm CRT Flux Phaser/RGB.VGA.VOLT performance at The Latent Space for the "Control Signals" exhibition performance series, Chicago, IL

August 13, 2022, 8:30 pm CRT Flux Phaser/RGB.VGA.VOLT and Cracked Ray Tube performance at The Latent Space for the "Control Signals" exhibition performance series, Chicago, IL

August 6, 2022, 7:00 pm opening for "Control Signals" solo exhibition at The Latent Space, Chicago, IL

August 6 - September 10, 2022 "Control Signals" solo exhibition at The Latent Space, Chicago, IL

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EXHIBITIONS