Da Hee Lee
Introduction
As part of my work I am interested in how abstract painting can be read, explained, adjusted and predicted through the study of Bach using objective indicators and mathematical calculations. I have created a process that translates musical scores into visual scores that I will outline below. First I will examine theoretical elements, then discuss the methodology in terms of the ‘Individualization Process’; then I will present my analysis in terms of its passive and active elements and briefly explain the process of analysis, application and experiment to move to completion; I also briefly touch on my research into forms of notation; finally I assess its outcome and impact. I primarily use Bach’s music to visually explore how something new can be obtained from the music, such as patterns and compositional possibilities. I translate the elements of music to colour, shape, contrast and chromic density, to make a visual score. My process combines objective and subjective undertones of choices to express the sensations of the music rather than provide a one-dimensional translation. So even if it is an abstract picture—with a simple rule it can be read, explained and interpreted. Also, when one listens to another new song, one could predict the composition of the song as an image. Moreover, recently I collaborated with musicians who interpret my scores in an attempt to find new possibilities of performance and recording.
Theory
Music, philosophy and science have fundamentally common roots: this is posited by Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, and St. Augustine, Isaac Newton, Albert Schweitzer and Albert Einstein, who regarded music as an inspiration for their scientific research (Jeong, 2014). Many philosophers, physicists and painters such as Paul Klee believe that music and science are deeply related.
What had been accomplished in music by the end of the eighteenth century has only begun in the fine arts. Mathematics and physics have given us a clue in form of rules to be strictly observed or departed from, as the case may be (Klee, 1928).
Bach composed the songs in a mathematical way because he felt that mathematical equilibrium was important and should be taken into consideration when composing based on counterpoint. If the music created by such a procedure is accessed only emotionally or abstractly, it is not a enough to express Bach’s mathematical interest, but it does touch on the artist’s own feelings because of the music.
The scientific methodology of ‘The Art of Fugue’ is similar to that of physics. Bach not only inductively arrived at a general rule from each fact (motif) that was found through research, but also deductively combined (composition) another approach similar to a general rule. To engage in objective individualization for my artwork, I felt it was not enough to express emotions that are ‘instinctively’ heard and felt in order to embody Bach’s music correctly. Because he was approaching it in a scientific way, rather than merely composing sensations, it must be individualised by deductive and inductive reasoning even when expressed visually. Another thing that I considered was that the root of Bach’s music is a mathematical structure and modern people’s intellects are able to unconsciously understand this structure and, therefore, to easily follow the mathematical underpinning in Bach’s approach to music (Joung, 2014). I think that Art should share this emphasis on the importance of objective approaches that we see in creative fields like science and music.
I have also examined how painters have taken music into account with their artworks—sometimes extending into scientific field with Systems Art (Shanken, 2015). Agnes Martin’s musical appreciation of classical composers such as Handel and Beethoven, were closely allied to her work. She wrote that: “Art work that is completely abstract—free from any expression of the environment—is like music and can be responded to in the same way.” For Martin our response to line and tone and colour is the same as our response to sounds. Abstract art is thematic like music and it “holds meaning for us that is beyond expression in words” (Glimcher, 2012). Martin’s art has often been set to music, for example by John Zorn who saw a transcendence in her work, that Martin’s paintings: “glow like magical talismans, healing the world with a message of love, a message of peace” (Dover, 2016).
Methodology—the Individualization Process
As stated to engage with objective individualization, it is not enough to express emotions that are instinctively heard and felt in order to embody Bach’s music correctly. I study the characteristics and background of the music and the philosophy of the composer and play the music. To approach composition in a scientific way, rather than based on sense impressions, it must be individualised by deductive and inductive reasoning when expressed visually: the visualisation must encompass moving from a general to a particular and vice versa to be individualised within a larger structure. The choice of pictorial materials and techniques should be adapted to this understanding of the nature of the music. The process of individualization follows the procedure below so that the mathematical and formalistic traits of Bach’s music are not buried in a subjective ’emotional’ aspect.
Analysis, Application and Experiment/Completion
The first step here is to disassemble and analyse the order, beat, instructions of the performance method, and characteristics of the instrument. I break this down into two parts:
- Passive Analysis: Because each player has different ways of interpreting and playing the music, I would follow the interpreting style of one pianist, Glenn Gould, at first.
- Active Analysis: Play the music to understand how to play notes from the player’s perspective.
This then leads to application. When drawing a single note, the force, position, colour, length, form, and context of the note must all be considered in a comprehensive manner. The labelling criteria cannot be exempted from universal and consistent rules. This then leads to arrangement. Here the layout is determined by a structure that reflects the pattern, flow, and composition of the visually transferred notes. How and where to emphasise and organise the visual parts of the counterpoint must be considered. The next part is experiment moving towards completion. This involves selecting the medium of expression and experimenting with at least three methods to derive the most appropriate result. So the artist ‘s involvement in individualizing music is as follows:
- Choose music and pianists that are worthy of research and artistic preference.
- Establish criteria for conversion of melodies into colours (based on synaesthesia).
- Establish the difference in saturation and brightness of notes.
- Set the layout of the score, spacing between rows and columns, length of notes per beat.
- Create all objective rules.
Research into Forms of Notation
Although the aim and objective of my project is different, a study of artists who visualize music in the notation of their scores and create and apply their own consistent rules to express music is of importance. These have included: Iannis Xenakis, and in future I would like to develop this further by consulting the work of Hanne Darboven, Wadada Leo Smith, John De Cesare, Elaine Longtemps, and others.
Xenakis is of particular interest because of his combination of music and mathematics in his book Formalized Music that used graphing techniques related to architectural structures. Lines with a slope of zero are a particular pitch, dotted lines represents discontinuity, a line with a specific measured slope represents a glissando with the pitch getting higher and the line thickness increasing to suggest a crescendo (Anderson, 2011: 197). Glissandi embody Xenakis’ ideas of an underlying unity between music, architecture and mathematics. This enables Xenakis to conceive of sonic shapes—gestalts—analogous to the visible ones and to then to refer them to abstract morphological models. Xenakis invented the UPIC, a machine able to convert graphics into sounds (Iliescu, 2006).
Outcome and Impact
This project’s aim is to disassemble and analyse the order, beat, instructions of the performance method, and characteristics of the instruments to visually explore the aesthetic and sensory qualities that can be explored with Bach’s music. The audience can engage with the pieces of art to understand the complexity and mathematical formulas that Bach has explored in his compositions. As a result of these preoccupations and research, I aim to extract the essence of the music, leaving out the superfluous, as a form of ‘music drawing’. When confining time to the concept of space, the hidden principle of music can be grasped. A new third genre between music and art could be implemented, one that can visually express music in order to make it more comprehensible and appreciated. Through the study of Bach’s music, the aesthetic value of the visual arts is re-examined, the formality is found and the invisible is revealed to demonstrate the significance of the art. As an additional effect, these musical notes, unlike the notes on manuscript paper, allow audiences to read the music while listening to it. The flow and mood of the music piece can be also visually grasped, as this would enable audiences to easily interpret a piece they listen to for the first time, or even notice the differences based on instruments or arrangements. Moreover, the expansion of its function beyond analysis and expression of music would be considered. Hearing impairment individuals would be also be assisted in enjoying music by using ‘colour’ notes.
Bibliography
Anderson, Janelle (2011) ‘Xenakis’ Combination of Music and Mathematics,’ The Journal of Undergraduate Research, Vol. 9, https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.co.uk/&httpsredir=1&article=1062&context=jur
Dover, Caitlin (2016) ‘Magic and Peace in John Zorn’s “Music for Agnes Martin”’, Checklist, November 30, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/magic-and-peace-in-john-zorns-music-for-agnes-martin
Glimcher, Arne (2012) Agnes Martin: Paintings, Writings, Remembrances, Phaidon Press.
Iliescu, Mihu (2006) ‘Glissandi And Traces: A Study of The Relationship Between Musical and Extra-Musical Fields’, In Solomos, Makis et al., (2005) Definitive Proceedings of the “International Symposium Iannis Xenakis” (Athens, May 2005), https://www.iannis-xenakis.org/Articles/Iliescu.pdf
Jongkoo, Jeong (2014) All the Eyes Heard Music, ed. Jisoo Jeoung, Seoul: Naumsa, ch 1, 5. Klee, Paul (1928) Exakter Versuch im Bereich der Kunst [Exact experiments in the field of art], Bauhaus, Vierteljahr Zeitschrift fur Gestaltung, 2, 2-3(1928), 17.
Messiaen, Iannis Xenakis; Olivier. Arts-Sciences: Alloys (Aesthetics in Music Series; No. 2). New York: Pendragon Pr, 1994. Print.
Shanken, Edward A. (ed.) (2015) Systems Art, Cambridge MA, MIT Press.