Collaborative Visual Scores: Using the Multiplicity of Print to Share a Series of Etchings (Visual Scores) With Selected Musicians in Exchange for Their Sonic Interpretation

Abstract

This research seeks to explore the process of etching as a method for investigating shared experiences and collaboration between artists from different disciplines. The aim is to focus on the overlapping language that exists between mark-making and musical composition and to investigate how one informs the other.

The research focuses on the creation of three scores, each created on a steel etching plate. Each score was sent to a musician for their sonic response. For this first series, I invited the saxophonist Patrick Shiroishi (US), the guitarist Sam Sherry (UK/NZ), and vocalist Adam Sherry (UK/NZ) to take part. My scores contain my interpretations of the environment, or journey, developed through the practice of soundwalking. The musicians enter into the project as collaborators, and the work is not complete without their sonic response. In this collaborative score project, I wanted to create a dialogue or ‘relationship’ between myself and other musicians by exchanging a score for a recorded response. I feel like this initial experiment was successful, and this approach has given me many ideas on how to develop this project for the future.