In early 2023, for a series of three paintings, I used prominent buildings designed by Frank Gehry as my color and design templates. Looking back in my videos, I found an explanation in this blog post video 9 minutes in why I did so. My reasoning comes together this way: “I like taking a piece of art (a major Frank Gehry project) and making art out of it….I guess that is what I am doing with my music, my music boxes I am taking music art, the art of music, and turning it into the art of art.”
Today I see this art’s connection to architecture also in a physical way in that I too design and built these artworks. But the important understanding comes from the blog site, All About Architecture. The article says “Architects start with abstract ideas and create something real, while artists start with real things and make them abstract.” That may be true, but my art comes with a circular twist. This art starts with real music. I then go abstract with a visual background, that is not a staff, populated with my own abstracted note design, which is not notation. Then, with a push of the artwork button, reality returns as the artwork plays the cover music of the original music.
I recently looked up information on the Farnsworth House design by the architect Miles Van der Rohe.
Have I moved on from Gehry and am now challenging my inner Miles Van der Rohe? I see a comparable architecture design in the early version of the music box, Yellow, and the Farnsworth House. I like the long and narrow design for it works with my notation. This time, though, I wanted something different that was still architectural in design.
With this new look I did test and find that I could balance the artwork using only the top yellow canvas for the hanging wire. The addition of the two smaller gray canvases creates a sturdy connection between the two separate sections that were needed for travel. These two canvases connect the artwork with five 1/4 inch carriage bolts tightened, that are easily removable with wing nuts.
Scott Von Holzen
aRT iN mUSIC 