The Score @ The Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne: 1 August – 5 November 2017
A musical score is a form of translation. It transcribes sound into drawing, by representing the aural complexities of pitch, rhythm and tempo as visual symbols.
The Score expands upon this spirit of transformation to ask, if music can be represented by notes on a staff, why not by colours? If a song can be performed by the voice, why not with silent hand gestures? And how would dance based upon the syllables of a poem, or music based upon the shape of a leaf manifest?
In this international group exhibition, scores and notation are considered as a starting point to explore the current cross-disciplinary trend in contemporary art, which has seen dance, music and vocal performance increasingly incorporated into visual artworks. The Score presents a range of contemporary and historical artworks that shift between one discipline to another. Musical notation becomes a visual metaphor for a moment of translation between forms – the point where creative leaps and conceptual shifts spark new possibilities.
Scores and recordings from branches of the University of Melbourne Library – Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library, Lenton Parr Music, Visual and Performing Arts Library and the Grainger Museum are included.
More information: http://www.art-
Georgina Binns | Faculty Librarian, VCA and MCM
