THE ANSTENDIG INSTITUTE
©1985 The Anstendig Institute
revised
The
Anstendig Institute is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization founded to study
the vibrational influences of our environment and their effects on sensory perception
and on mental and physical health. The institute particularly investigates
sight and sound reproduction in relation to problems of seeing and hearing. Its
overall aim is to bring to public attention the need to reduce stressful
vibrational influences in everyday life and to improve the quality of sight,
sound and other-vibrational influences as a prerequisite for fine aesthetic
experience.
Man-made
vibrational influences have replaced those of nature in modern life. The
institute studies the vibrational characteristics and effects of ill- and
well-functioning mechanical and electronic devices commonly used in everyday
life (automobiles, television sets, phonographs, business machines, etc.). The
institute has demonstrated the adverse effects of imperfect photographic and
sound reproduction on sensory perception and powers of discrimination. It has
also demonstrated the necessity for 1) absolutely exact focus in photography,
and 2) natural sounding sound reproduction. The institute has demonstrated how
exact sight and sound reproduction enhances human sense perception and permits
finer, deeper, more intense aesthetic experience.
The
general field of institute research, the constant vibrational bombardment of
our modern machine-electronic environment and the effect it has on our senses,
minds and bodies, is new and virtually unexplored. While attention is given to
“noise pollution," research is usually in terms of the loudness of sound.
In fact, there is a much larger range of vibration that affects us. The quality
of a vibration, its unevenness for example, can be more important than its
intensity. Many of the vibrations that affect us are below normal conscious
perception and therefore demand special attention to be noticed. Their effects,
however, are readily noticed. All types of vibrations, including many which we
may not be immediately aware of, can cause the inability to perceive clearly or
to concentrate and can often cause mental confusion and physical problems
resulting from continued stress.
The
institute studies the vibrational characteristics and effects of a wide range
of mechanical and electronic devices used in everyday life: automobiles,
refrigerators, air conditioners, television sets, phonographs, etc. The aim of
the Anstendig Institute is to provide means for individuals to control their
immediate vibrational environments to eliminate ill effects, to call the
attention of industry to vibrational problems, and to demonstrate the potential
for improved technology.
The
institute's special field of research is the constant, poor quality of audio
and visual imagery (photography and recorded sound) with which we are bombarded
and its detrimental effects, especially on aesthetic experience.
Photography
and television both suffer from diffuse, unfocused imagery which has
conditioned the public to poor visual quality and reduced its powers of visual
discrimination. The basic problem is that no camera can focus. The institute's
work with the Messraster, the only instrument that allows focal-pointexact focus, demonstrates the important possibilities
of precision focusing in terms of the psychological effects of greater detail
and color resolution and in terms of control of artistic expressivity.
The
Anstendig Institute's photographs, made with the Messraster focusing device,
are the only existing photographs in which the true plane of focus is
intentionally and exactly placed on the most important point in the picture.
They demonstrate the extraordinary plasticity (three
dimensionality) and the accurately rendered human expression and picture
detail that occur when a photographer has precise control of the plane of
focus. They define the true psychological aspects of reactions to
photographically produced visual images, which pertain to all two-dimensional
visual media, and include much that pertains to the psychology of seeing in
general.
The
institute's photographs prove that photographic art is technically flawed in
its most important aspect, focusing. The only purely photographic aspect of
photographic art is the preservation of images focused by a lens. Nothing else
that is artistic in photography is intrinsically photographic. Posing,
graphics, lighting choice and manipulation of colors, etc., are all separate
arts in themselves. The institute's photographs demonstrate that the rendition
of these other aspects of photographic art is determined by the placement of
the exact plane of focus. The institute's papers, as illustrated by the
photographs, point out the means of correcting the focusing problem. For the
first time, the photographer is shown the means of controlling all picture
elements.
Recorded
sound suffers from a number of interrelated distortions which the institute has
carefully analyzed. These distortions lead to poor aural discrimination; they
also cause discomfort, stress and, in some cases, hearing loss. The institute
has been able to observe and measure the impact of good and bad sound
reproduction, particularly on sense perception. The institute is working on the
use of sound equalization to perfect natural sounding sound-reproduction,
applying its research beyond recorded sound to room and concert hall acoustics.
Virgil
Thompson, dean of American composers, has written in Parnassus: Poetry in
Review (Winter, 1982):
The Anstendig Institute, musico-acoustic investigators in
Since
the quality of classical music sets our society's cultural standards, exact recorded
sound in classical music is of special importance. Decades of sound distortion
has already endangered the long classical tradition of musicianship and
emotional expressivity.
In
equalized recorded music, or in halls with correct acoustics, there is a
dramatic increase in the production and recognition of expressive nuance, one
of our most important human treasures. Along with the institute's interest in
improved sound quality, it is engaged in a long term project of selecting and
in most cases restoring classical recordings whose expressivity reflects the
original intention of the composer. This process of selection is only possible
because the institute can reproduce expressive nuance in a hearable way. The
institute frequently presents programs of recorded music that utilize these
recordings to illustrate its findings. The recordings used in these programs
are chosen from the entire legacy of classical recordings solely on the basis
of the quality of performance. Since most of these performances were recorded
long ago, the programs should be viewed as restorations of important musical
performances of great historical value, not as demonstrations of ultimate
up-to-date hi-fi.
What
we are trying to achieve through these programs is an experience in which the
original faulty sound is well-enough restored for the expressive content to
come through so that our audience can gain an appreciation of the treasures to
be found in recordings and develop their powers of discrimination in seeking
out fine quality musical performances. As there are differences in hearing,
especially in the frequency extremes, there may be differences of opinion as to
the final degrees of adjustment of the sound, particularly in the high and low
frequencies. In personal listening, the sound can be adjusted to suit the
individual's own hearing. Sonically, the most important aim of our adjustments
is to eliminate the major irritations inherent in the sound-reproducing process
that keep the expressive subtleties from being heard.
The
institute wishes to impress the interested public with the aesthetic
possibilities of finer vibrational influences. Both exact focusing and
equalized recorded sound allow rarely encountered degrees of expressive human
experience. Once again, however, these artistic possibilities must be seen,
heard and felt. Relatively brief experience of the work of the institute is
sufficient to alert most people to the need for an improved vibrational
environment, private or public. Longer exposure to finer vibrational influences,
however, is necessary for more lasting benefits: clearer sensory perception,
greater mental clarity, increased ability to concentrate, etc. The institute
wishes as soon as possible to begin educational and training programs in
understanding, recognizing and improving vibrational quality. The long range
goal of the institute is to spread its findings and their benefits through and
beyond the Bay Area as a contribution to mental and physical health and
cultural enrichment in the modern machine environment.