Between Thought and Sound: Graphic Notation in Contemporary Music

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Photo: Eileen Costa

 

This group exhibition offered a survey of experimental scores by thirty composers who have influenced the history of contemporary music by rejecting traditional notation in favor of an invented visual system utilizing graphic and pictorial elements. Each work had a performative quality, but could also be appreciated solely for its visual character. The intersection between drawing and sound intended to create a variety of open-ended interpretations, with the performer freed from the strict control of the composer due to the multiple possibilities for translation. The musical notations exhibited took the form of abstract drawings, digital compositions, gestural symbols, and codes of numbers, letters, and colors. Between Thought and Sounds was curated by Alex Waterman, Debra Singer, and Matthew Lyons.

Supplemental Information

Press Release [PDF]
Checklist [PDF]
The New York Sun Review [PDF]
Time Out New York Listing [PDF]
New York Times Listing [PDF]
New York Magazine Listing [PDF]
New Yorker Listing October 22, 2007 [PDF]
New Yorker Listing September 16, 2007 [PDF]
Artforum Review [PDF]
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