This artwork is looking less chaotic by adding my slurs, beams and even a tie. Those features help to break up the vertical back-en-forth visual wishy-washy of the music, while also filling space. Their mostly horizontal placement connects to the artwork’s three frames,
This artwork is part of the project to answer two questions: can I make larger artworks in a breakdown way so I can transport when needed. I accomplished that. I can remove the bottom section of this artwork which then allows the top two sections to fit in the back of RAV4. Second, can I lay down my music flow in a less rigid way ( a difficult task considering that I do read and understand musical notation) and move even more away from the design rules of notation. That change would not affect the casual viewer, but for those that read music (an important group of supporters), to decipher the music of the artwork would be more challenging. Here is the story behind why I came up with the second question.
Last fall I exhibited at the Falling Leaves Art show. The show was indoors at a nearby high school that had a wall made to hang items. This then made my setup easy and simple. It was at this show that I hung a signature artwork, Mozart’s Turkish March, that also had a music box installed. This artwork did not get accepted (a major disappointment) for the first art show at the grand opening of our new art center. I thought this fine work needed to be shown in public. It was during the setup that the high school music teacher came up to me, and after taking a quick look at the artwork, told me what the music was before I play the music. That was a big surprise. I don’t recall thinking that he had heard me playing the music, or if he had overheard that it was a Mozart artwork. After he left I had a strange feeling that my artworks were still uncomfortably too close to sheet music. I felt that after more than twelve years of trying to separate my art from sheet music, at less with music teachers, my feelings were how easy I was still making artworks that a trained musical eye could still connect my music flow to sheet music. Of course, I feel that people following the flow of the art, when playing the music, or knowing the music is and always will be a fundamental part of understanding this art. That was certainly still obvious today 2018’s Turkish March. It is with this experimental artwork, thought of an advanced 2020 project, that I am experimenting with loosening up what is left of my own rules of sheet music. If this works it then may be necessary for musicians to read the title of the artwork for the clue to deciphering what the theme of the artwork is. On second thought, maybe it would have been a lot easier to paint music in a unique style if I never learned to read music. On third thought, I would not be painting music, it all, if I did not at first understand the notation behind the music.
Scott
aRT iN mUSIC 
