Thursday, June 4, 2009

Translations in Visual Language



Elizabethan Report comprising of Tony Petersen, Aaron Hatch, Spencer Petersen and Thomas Carroll have burrowed their way into my heart over the past few years. It seems they reached their boiling point in Utah County and will be moving on to California.


I have designed their cd's and promotions and have currently been working on a new project involving them. I received funding from Utah Valley University to conduct a creative research project.


It is entitled Translations in Visual Language: Exploring the Connectivity of Sensory Elements and Emotions.


While traveling through southern Utah a year ago I was struck by the shapes and shadows of the mountains on the desert plain. Reminded of sound waves I began to wonder what this landscape would sound like if all the horizon lines and shapes were fed into some kind of music sequencing machine. Conversely I wondered what different types of music would look like as art.


As an artist I have long understood that people connect to their world in different ways; yet we all share the same emotions and often, similar emotional responses. Artists have been cross-pollinating emotionally for centuries: a story helps create a song; a song prompts a dance, etc.


With these experiences in mind I would like to delve into my own emotional responses, perceptual screens, and the connectivity of various sensory elements to each other. Exploring such questions as do certain shapes and colors synestheticly evoke in the creator/viewer a similar or equal emotional response as a piece of music based on those colors and shapes? Can specific instruments or music be translated into these visual language elements while maintaining their emotional power?


Specifically, I will explore my own connections between art and music by listening and examining 10 pieces of music by Elizabethan Report.

Check back about news and updates involving their music and my art.



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