Charlie Ball: Experiments in Sound --- Looking Deeper
Nancy Newton’s From the Sea/From the Past: Experiments in Sound --- Looking Deeper
As viewers of Newton’s exhibit at the Propeller Gallery, we were able to follow the artist's concept development and visualization in work that was produced over more than a decade.
In looking at the work in both the North and South
galleries, we can see how the artist provides us, as viewers, with broad
perspectives on her surroundings. We can see how sounds have an impact on how
the artist interprets her surroundings and subject matter as well. It seems
that when music is involved, images become more whimsical and magical. We see
psychedelic colours and flowing lines, alongside other experimental qualities.
Autumn Song, Mixed Media Drawing Easy Journey, Mixed Media Collage
R. Murray Schafer, the composer of the musical work which first inspired Ms. Newton’s venture into the surreal, originally himself aspired to be a painter. Perhaps this is why his music resonates so deeply with the images Newton has created. We can hear a whimsical quality within these visual works. Easy Journey presents this otherworldliness so vividly. The music Schafer creates is uniquely expressive, and tells a story as clearly as watching a movie..
Here, listen for yourself..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYXuU4PawbY
Do you hear the insects? Can you see them dancing? Close your eyes, and immerse yourself in
the scene that Schafer provides for us here….
Schafer was the creator of the ‘soundscape,’ and he spent much of his career developing and
exploring these modes.
Soundscapes in general are often used in theatre plays, movies and other types of media to
immerse a viewer further in the surroundings of the story.
When viewing the more recent collection of Nancy's work, ‘From the Sea,’ the influence of
music is palpable. As an artist who is experienced in representing (abstracting) sound over
subject matter -- as she has had three previous exhibitions that focus on the “open, free-flowing
interpretations of music” -- Nancy Newton is able to convey her visual reference to shells from
the Mediterranean coast, while still keeping the soundscape, or in this case, Dream-e-Scape,
as the focal point of the piece. She uses the music as a vehicle to support the abstraction of
subject matter.
Nancy Newton - Sound Flight, Acrylic on Canvas, 36 x 44 inches
(From ‘SoundScape’ exhibition 2016, which also draws from Schafer’s Dream-E-Scape)
In response to this great concept Nancy has developed over time, I wanted to experiment with the impact of sound on me and how it could influence how I view subject matter. I invite the audience of Nancy Newton’s From the Sea/From the Past exhibit to join me and partake in an art experiment.
Pt 2: Experimenting with Sound as Subject Matter
I have chosen two references. One was a location, and the other an object.
Landscape Exercise:
1. Find an area that’s quiet and somewhat secluded with a clear landscape view.
2. Draw one representational image while listening to the natural soundscape,
3. Next, choose a piece of music that you love with a lot of rich and diverse sounds, something that can hold your attention for 5-10 mins
4. Draw to your heart’s content. Use the shape, perspective, line, and shadow of real life as reference points in your piece. As you reference this, incorporate the way the music makes you feel, and let the shapes and colours along with abstractions flow onto the paper!
This was my first attempt at using music as a subject alongside my reference.
The first image is my original from-life picture. It was done in ~15 min sitting at a lookout point near my apartment. I didn’t listen to music but instead immersed myself in the natural soundscape of nature. Being in a quiet area across from the city, most of the sounds, I noted, were the crashes of water against the cold sand, wind rippling on the surface of the lake, the sounds of skittish animals running through the short grass, distant traffic noises, and the last birds of the season flying in the air above.
As you can see by the drawing, it was not exactly a sunny and gorgeous day outside. Nonetheless, I captured it as I saw it, soundscape and all.
The second image was done in the same area. This time I allowed myself the use of coloured pencils and rather than accompanying my drawing with natural noises, I used a musical soundtrack. I chose one of my favourite instrumental pieces. The song is by Frank Zappa, called ‘Watermelon in Easter Hay.” Here it is if you feel inclined to listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3cu8sDa90Y
I drew this one while the sun was setting. I watched a few planes make trails in the sky. All of this inspired me -- the bright colours that appeared all over the landscape at sunset as well as the psychedelic and interesting guitar soundtrack. You can definitely see the creative stimulation I felt as a result of adding some music into the mix, but I wanted to discover a more abstract way to represent sound and the site's impact on my perception of subject matter.
Natural Soundscape Frank Zappa Instrumental
Object Exercise:
- Choose
an object with a clear representable image, something which has some sort
of sentimental value for you.
- Create a from-life drawing of the image. Use the natural soundscape as a tool to help you immerse yourself in your image.
- Next, choose a piece of music that you love with a lot of rich and diverse sounds, something that can hold your attention for 5-10 mins.
- Immerse yourself in the music and attempt to really portray the way it makes you feel. By using guidelines like shape, shadow, perspective, and colour, try to convey the idea of the subject matter while still letting the music play a part in your drawing.
After this, I explored a singular object as subject matter.
I think that in Nancy’s ‘From the Sea’ exhibit, a lot of the success in
translating the idea for me came from her isolating the subject matter. I chose
a ring, which to me holds a lot of sentimental value. This way, I would be able
to use the music as well as my emotions surrounding the subject to make an
interesting work of art in response to Nancy Newton’s work.
In my original drawing, I sat in silence for about 20 minutes to complete this. Since I was indoors in my own home, my natural soundscape was that of TTC vehicles and my cat screaming at me. Not very inspiring huh? Either way, I chose paper and pencil for this piece, as I felt that is what could convey the silent scene the best. For the second drawing, I listened to a piece of music called #3, by Aphex Twin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkvZOvOeON0
It is a slow-paced ambient track with lots of echoing
peaceful noise. I definitely got super into the music and approached this piece
on toned paper with coloured pencil. I think this was pretty successful. I was
able to convey aspects of the subject matter while still abstracting the image
and really looking deep at how the song was making me feel. Overall, I felt
this was more successful than my first attempt.
From life - Natural soundscape Abstract - Aphex Twin #3
Reflecting on My Response
Overall I really enjoyed completing this response to Nancy
Newton's exhibit. I loved the original work and really took a liking to Nancy's
newer pieces in 'From the Sea.' I thought that they were all such striking
pieces of art with a really unique appeal. I thought it was interesting just
how much of Nancy's work referenced pieces of music. I am someone who considers
music to be an integral part of my life. and this was a great way to capture how
it influences not only my own outlook on my surroundings, but also to understand
how the exhibit further inspired me by my creating my own artwork. I found it
to be more successful when I had control over my environment, e.g not being
outside, having different mediums and less of a time constraint. I implore you
to take your favourite pieces of music and discover the works you can create!
Further exploring below:
Nancy's Website - https://www.nancynewton.com/index.php
Tour of the Exhibit - https://www.facebook.com/reel/6770137359770092
