Studies
Studies





A visual translation of a field recording, exemplifying how auditory information is transferred into a visual medium and reorganised through a different mode of representation. Sonic material is treated as data that can be reinterpreted visually, allowing characteristics such as duration, variation, intensity and repetition to inform the resulting image. The piece exemplifies what is retained, altered or lost when information moves between media.


Echoes of 
Equilibrium

Stockholm, June 2024

Proportion as 
a Structural System



This study examines proportion as a way of structuring attention through relationships between dimensions, surfaces, intervals and spatial distribution. Its role becomes especially clear when other variables are reduced. Colour, texture, materiality and narrative can all carry strong informational weight. When these layers are restrained, the relationships between forms become easier to isolate and assess. A shift in scale can alter hierarchy immediately. A minor change in spacing can affect whether two elements are experienced as connected, separated or held in tension. The position of a 

form within a larger field can influence stability, direction and visual weight. These effects often occur before symbolic or narrative interpretation takes place. This makes proportion useful as an analytical variable. The work therefore focuses on how relatively simple geometric relationships can produce complex visual consequences. Large and small, dense and sparse, central and peripheral, repeated and isolated forms create different patterns of attention. These relationships can stabilise a composition, introduce friction or redirect the reading of the whole. 
Balance within this context is not dependent on symmetry. Asymmetrical structures can remain highly coherent, while symmetrical structures may appear static, unstable or unresolved. Balance emerges through the interaction of several conditions rather than through a single formal rule. This shifts proportion away from the idea of an ideal configuration and towards a field of adjustable relationships. A composition can be approached as a system. Individual elements carry local properties, while their scale, spacing and position determine how they operate collectively. 


Changing one element can reorganise the reading of several others. The effect belongs to the configuration as a whole. In two dimensional work, these relationships operate across a fixed field. The observer encounters the composition from a relatively stable position, allowing hierarchy and spatial distribution to be examined with some control. In sculpture and installation, the situation becomes more complex. The observer moves. Distance changes. Forms overlap, separate and shift in apparent scale. Spatial relationships are continuously reassessed through movement. This introduces the body as an  




 active component of the work. The same configuration can generate different readings from different positions. A dominant form can lose its dominance through distance. An interval can open or collapse depending on viewpoint. Negative space can become more active than the objects surrounding it. Proportion therefore develops through the interaction between object,  environment and observer. This relational condition is central to the study. The work investigates how structural decision can organise attention across different media while remaining sensitive to 



context, scale and movement. The focus is on identifying how proportional relationships behave: how they create hierarchy, continuity, tension, interruption and coherence. Within this process, proportion functions as a variable that can be adjusted, tested and recalibrated. All compositions become a configuration in which small structural changes can be traced through their effect on the whole. Across image, object and space, the study returns to the same underlying question: How much organisation can be produced through proportion alone?





An exploration of chromatic systems constructed upon the 369 framework. Colour is treated as a structural parameter, where rhythm and proportion emerge through modular relationships rather than pictorial composition.






Constructing the Insubstantial



Stockholm, Mars 2025


In contemporary artistic practice, particularly in fields that blur the lines between form and reception, such as ambient music, typographic design, sculpture, and ceramics, creation often begins with a felt sense of internal order. What makes a work coherent before it is legible? What gives a structure emotional presence before it is recognized as resolved? These questions persist throughout media, and in a multidisciplinary practice, they become even more urgent. Whether shaping sound, letterforms, or material objects, the artist constantly negotiates between the abstract and the tangible, between sensation and construction.





A Multidisciplinary Reflection 
Framed by Vitruvius’ TriadEvery medium becomes a variation on the same underlying gesture: to build something that can hold, communicate, and resonate. The formal rigor of a typeface, the bodily tactility of clay, or the spatial depth of a drone-based musical structure - they all ask the same foundational question: what is this work made of, and what makes it stand? In searching for answers, I have found an unlikely companion in the Roman architect and theorist Marcus Vitruvius Pollio.

Writing in the first century BCE, Vitruvius articulated in De Architectura a triadic model for understanding the built environment: firmitas (strength), utilitas (function), and venustas (beauty). Though formulated in the context of Roman architecture, these principles offer a surprisingly resonant lens through which to consider contemporary artistic processes across disciplines.

Firmitas, in this expanded view, encompasses both physical stability and internal consistency - structural logic within a system, whether audible, visual, or material. In music, it may lie in harmonic grounding or temporal coherence. In typography, it is the integrity of a type system, the rhythm and proportion between forms. In ceramics or sculpture, it involves technical solidity alongside a clarity of construction that allows an object to assert its own
1internal law. Without firmitas, a work dissolves into fragility - either physically or conceptually.

Utilitas, while traditionally associated with practical function, gains new dimensions in an artistic context. Here, it refers to relational clarity. A musical piece may function as atmosphere, meditation, or rupture; a typographic form may enable reading or invite slowness and contemplation. Utilitas measures
how a work positions itself within a field of use or perception - how it orients the listener, reader, or viewer toward a particular mode of engagement.

Venustas, perhaps the most elusive of the three, pertains to aesthetic presence - what Walter Pater might have called the “impression” left by form. This may arise through harmony or dissonance, precision or rawness. It is the aspect of the work that resists paraphrase: the curve of a letter that feels inevitable, the decay of a note that opens time, the silent poise of a ceramic object on a shelf. Venustas draws us in and keeps us there. It charges the work with sensuous gravity.

Vitruvius’ triad names a fundamental tension inherent in all acts of construction: the negotiation between stability, function, and felt presence. In
complex, hybrid practices - where intuition and material process often guide the work - these concepts act as coordinates to navigate. They help articulate why certain works endure, why they speak across time and media, and why others, despite surface elegance, collapse under the weight of their own incoherence.

To invoke Vitruvius today is to acknowledge that even the most ephemeral or conceptual practices are, at their core, concerned with building. To construct something - whether with sound, form, or meaning always engages the questions of how it stands, how it works, and why it matters.






An investigation of how modular elements generate symbolic structures that exist between notation and language. Constructed around the grid, the composition explores repetition, symmetry and interruption, allowing simple geometry to suggest increasingly complex visual systems.




Negotiating the Reciprocity Between Intuition and Geometry in Artistic Yield





In the realm of visual arts, form and proportion arise as elemental forces, shaping the aesthetic and structural integrity of creative works. These concepts, distilled from the broader spectrum of color, light, and texture, reveal the intrinsic harmony between shapes that converse silently within a composition. This harmony is critical, especially when viewed through a microscopic
lens where each component asserts its independence, a sovereign entity.   For creators engaged in assembling series or collections, challenges arise to fabricate a coherent narrative across multiple pieces. Without a deliberate focus on equilibrium, a series may devolve into dissonance and chaos. This issue is particularly acute in the
disciplines of abstract, post minimalism and geometric abstraction, where accuracy and calculated mathematics manytimes creates a paradox. Here, the strict adherence to mathematical rigor can occasionally smother the vibrant flow of creativity, giving rise to tension between demanding precisions of geometics and the fluid spontaneity of artistic intuition.

Stockholm, June 2024
An eloquent resolution to this rigidity, as demonstrated in the works and theories of luminaries like Brockmann and Elam, lies in the adept use of the grid. These frameworks offer a skeletal structure that harmonizes intuitive artistic impulses with the demanding precision of geometric composition. Through the artful projection, alignment, and placement of elements within a predefined grid, the artist may find a canvas where experimentation and meticulous assembly coexist harmoniously.

This approach gives rise to artworks in which each micro component, whether a line, shape, or form - contributes to a cohesive macro vision. The grid, though silent and unseen, acts as a guiding force, ensuring that each element not only maintains its individual integrity but also resonates within the collective harmony of the series. It provides a framework within which artists navigate freely, their spontaneous decisions securely anchored by the grid’s systematic embrace.

Endowed by this procedure, artists may blend the intuitive with the mathematical, maintaining the essence of creative spontaneity. The grid thus becomes more than a tool for imposing order; it evolves into a conduit for bridging the cerebral and the visceral. This environment fosters a space where experimentation and precision merge, enabling artists to explore complex mathematical relationships within their work without being overwhelmed by them.

Ultimately, the reciprocity between form and proportion, guided by both intuitive insight and geometric rigor, cultivates a dynamic dialogue between order and creativity. This dialogue may be important in a production of artworks, that are both visually compelling and intellectually resonant, reflecting an aura of the visible and underlying structures that defines the creators artistic narrative.







This piece examines colour as a structural language rather than a decorative attribute. Four chromatic modules are arranged within a proportional framework where harmony is generated through measured relationships instead of subjective composition. The study forms part of an ongoing investigation into perceptual organisation across visual and auditory domains.






Perceptual Harmony Across Sensory Domains


Harmony occupies a distinctive position within both music and visual art. Although the term is frequently associated with aesthetic balance or beauty, its underlying mechanisms appear to involve a more specific phenomenon: the interaction of multiple elements within a sensory system. This becomes particularly evident when comparing two domains that have historically approached harmony from different directions: sound and color.










Stockholm, June 2026




Within the auditory domain, harmonic relationships emerge through the interaction of tones. Within the visual domain, comparable relationships emerge through the interaction of colors. Despite addressing different senses, both fields present a remarkably similar structure of observation.

A single tone may be understood as an identifiable auditory event. It possesses measurable characteristics, including frequency, duration, amplitude, and timbre. Likewise, a single color possesses measurable properties relating to wavelength, brightness, and saturation. In both cases, the individual element can be described with considerable precision.

Yet the phenomenon of harmony remains largely absent. The introduction of a second element changes the situation considerably.

Within music, a second tone establishes an interval. Relationships of distance, proportion, tension, resonance, and stability become apparent. The investigations commonly associated with Pythagorean thought demonstrated that particular proportional relationships between frequencies correspond to distinctive auditory experiences. The octave, the fifth, and the fourth provide familiar examples. Their significance derives not only from the tones themselves, but from the relationships established between them. Comparable observations can be made within color theory. The studies of Johannes Itten demonstrated that colors rarely maintain a fixed visual identity when placed in relation to other colors. Modifications to the brightness, saturation, or intensity of one color may significantly alter the appearance of adjacent colors. A hue may appear vibrant within one arrangement and restrained within another. A neutral tone may appear warm in one context and cool in the next.

In both cases, the introduction of a second element produces qualities that cannot be located within either element independently. The relationship itself becomes active within experience. This parallel becomes increasingly apparent as additional elements are introduced.

Within music, intervals combine into chords. Chords combine into harmonic progressions. Progressions contribute to larger formal structures. Each stage introduces new relationships that influence the perception of the whole.

Within visual composition, individual colors combine into palettes. Palettes generate systems of contrast, balance, dominance, and transition. As the number of interacting colors increases, the complexity of the composition expands accordingly.

An important characteristic of both systems is their sensitivity to 
 modification. The addition, removal, or alteration of a single component may reorganize the way every component already present is experienced.

A single note introduced into a harmonic structure may alter the perceived function of surrounding notes.

A single color introduced into a palette may alter the appearance of surrounding colors.

Such observations suggest that harmony cannot be adequately understood through the examination of isolated elements alone. Rather, harmonic phenomena appear to emerge through patterns of interaction occurring between elements.

This observation does not diminish the importance of individual tones or colors. On the contrary, harmony depends entirely upon their presence.

Yet the qualities associated with harmony seem to arise at a different level of organization. They emerge through relationships, proportions, and interactions that extend beyond any individual component.

The historical distance separating Pythagorean investigations of sound from Itten’s studies of color spans more than two millennia. Nevertheless, both bodies of work direct attention toward a similar condition. Whether operating within the auditory or visual domain, harmony appears closely connected to  the organization of relationships. This correspondence is particularly striking because it emerges across distinct sensory modalities. Sound and color differ fundamentally in their physical nature. One unfolds through vibration and time, the other through light and space. Yet both reveal a comparable dependence upon interaction. In each case, the introduction of additional elements expands the field of possible relationships and gives rise to increasingly complex forms of organization.

From this perspective, harmony may be understood as an emergent property of relational systems. The phenomenon becomes observable whenever multiple elements interact in ways that generate coherent structures. Whether encountered as tones within a musical composition or colors within a visual composition, harmony appears to arise through the organization of relationships rather than through the properties of individual elements considered in isolation.

The comparison between sound and color therefore offers more than a historical parallel between music theory and color theory. It provides an opportunity to observe how sensory systems organize complexity through interaction. In both domains, harmony emerges gradually as relationships accumulate, forming structures whose qualities exceed those of the individual elements from which they are composed.




A proposition that visual materials function as a grammatical system. Datamosh artefacts, grid logic and colour modules are combined as syntactic elements whose meaning arises through structural relationships instead of representation.






Johan Emmoth





Based at Rumtiden Idélab, Stockholm, my interdisciplinary practice focuses on artistic research into auditory systems, perception, materiality and computation. Working across sound, visual art and ceramics, I investigate multisensory communication and human interaction with technology through experimental media, functional objects and visual studies. Current areas of investigation include auditory interfaces, computational aesthetics, digital culture and tactile disciplines.


Rumtiden.com


Material as Syntax 





Selected WorkLego, SWE | HBO, USA | Music Machine Summit, SWE | Försvarsmakten, SWE | Friends Agenda, SWE | Fry Communications, SWE | Riche, SWE | Nip/Tuc, USA | Xbox, USA | Kylie Minogue, GBR | Strictly Rhythm, USA | Jung Von Matt, SWE | Armani AX, ITA | NK, SWE | London Records, GBR | Virgin Records, GBR | Jukkasjärvi Icehotel, SWE | Icebar, SWE | Nokia, FIN | Telia, SWE | Sveriges Television, SWE | Microsoft, USA | Riche, SWE | Cartoon Network GBR | Söderhavet, SWE | Golden Best, SWE | Krister Linder, SWE | Nicolai Dunger, SWE | Fatboy Slim, GBR | Veronica Maggio, SWE | James Holden, GBR | The Human League, GBR | Scarlet Fantastic, GBR | Dannii Minogue, GBR | Zoot Woman (Stuart Price), GBR | Artful Dodger, GBR | DW, SWE | Blaze, USA | A Trak, USA | Lifelike, FRA | Sally Shapiro, SWE | Cocoon Recordings, GER | Yoshi Toshi, USA | Slip ‘n’ Slide Records, GBR | MMS, Swe | Warner Bros Publishing, USA | Elefant, ESP | Universal Music Publishing, SWE | Universal Music, SWE | Universal Music, MEX | Universal Music, FRA | Queen Of Hearts, GBR | Håkan Lidbo, SWE | Max Björverud, SWE | Salif Kieta, MLI | Steve Angello, SWE | John Dahlbäck, SWE | DK7, SWE | The Similou, SWE | Lo Fidelity Allstarts, GBR | Frankie Feliciano, USA | The Beloved, GBR | Nic Fanciulli, GBR | Size Records, SWE | Pickadoll Records, SWE | Plantage 13, GER | Get Physical Music, GER | Razzia Records, SWE | Permanent Vacation, GER | LoEB, GBR | Shinishi, USA | Deleted Records, GBR | Direction Records, GBR | On The Air Music, SWE | Astralwerks, USA | Fabric, GBR | BBE, GBR | Global Underground, GBR | Nero, SWE | Ranch, GBR | Boo Records Inc., AUS | Absolut Freak, FRA | Youngsociety, GBR | Craft Music, GER | Magik Muzik, USA | New Retro Wave, USA | Primary Recordings, GBR | Refried, GBR | Fiji Recordings, USA | Blackhole Recordings, NLD | Harthouse, GER | Kinetic Records, USA | Music For Freaks, GBR | Shindig, GBR | Bit Music, ESP | In Tha House Records, GBR | Paper Recordings, GBR | Systematic, GER | Toolroom Records, GBR | IDJ Magazine, GBR | Mixmag, GBR | Jockeyslut Magazine, GBR | Ministry Magazine, GBR | Soul Wax / Waxhead, BEL | Underwater Records, GBR | Ministry Of Sound | GBR | Chrystalis Records, GBR | ITH Records, USA | A Decade, ITA | Obsessive, GBR | Music Man Records, BEL | Defected, GBR | Soundworx, USA | EMI, GBR | Warner Strategic Marketing, FRA | Nova, FRA | Plastic City, USA | Hottwerk, GBR | Sony Music Entertainment, GBR | Tanga, ESP | Ministry Of Sound, AUS | Thrive Records, USA | More Music, GBR | Kaos Records, GBR | Vidisco, GBR | FFRR, GBR | Hed Kandi, GBR | Ultra Records, USA | Vendetta Records, USA | Miami Winter Music Conference, USA | Sony Music Entertainment, GER | Wall Of Sound, GBR | Cedar Park Recordings, USA | Subliminal, USA | Big City Beats, USA | Indigo, USA | DJ Magazine, GBR | Harry Klein Records, GBR | Mr. C, The Shamen, GBR | 16 B (GBR) | ZYX, GER | Manifesto, GBR | SPG Productions, CAN | Intec Records, GBR | Caligula, AUS | Caucasian Boy, GBR | Paperbag Records, CAN | Blackwatch, GBR | Foundation Records, GBR | Tronic Soundz, GER | Freeze Magazine, GRC | Monoid, NLD | Hooj Choons, GBR | Dessous Recordings, GER | Sony BMG, ZAF | Variation Recordings, GBR | Ministry Of Sound, GER | Morrison Recordings, USA | Estereo, GBR | Playground, SWE | Physical Graffiti, USA | Need 2 Soul, GBR | Soul Candi, ZAF | Loaded Records, GBR | Skint, GBR | G2, USA | Container, SWE | Misty Music, SWE | MBF, GER | Fine, GBR | Joia, SWE | Sci + Tec Digital Audio, USA | Blanco y Negro Records, GBR | 4 Group, GBR | Pooled Music, GER | Opus, USA | MNW, SWE | BBE, GBR | Edel Records, GER | Azuli Records, GBR Renaissance Records, GBR | Junior Boy’s Own, GBR | Global Underground, GBR | Abbey Road, GBR | Symple Sounds, USA | 





Selected ceramic projects & commissions
Studio production with artist Anna Lindell, Rosendals Krukmakeri




Rosendals Trädgård, SWE | Nationalmuseum, SWE | Institut Suédois, FRA | Fotografiska Food, SWE | TAK, SWE | TAK, NOR | Bobe, DNK | Matbaren, SWE | Rutabaga, SWE | Geist, DNK | Absolut, SWE | Långbro Värdshus, SWE | Vår Gård, SWE | Smådalarö Gård, SWE | Matbaren, SWE | Sörmlands Museum, SWE | 







© Interdisciplinary Practices  2026