GRAPHIC SOUND exhibition
Curated by Dmitry Shubin

The State Academic Capella, St.Petersburg, October-November 2014

 From the catalog of the exhibition:

"Preparing the “Graphic Sound” exhibition, I had to repeatedly recall the phrase of John Cage, which he wrote in the preface to the book “Notations” (1969), which became the first global work on graphics and other non-traditional notations: “The collection [of music manuscripts - D.Sh.]” was determined by circumstances rather than any process of selection“. I have to say that this exhibition was formed approximately in the same way, and perhaps for the fuzzy logic systems this principle is most appropriate.

Graphic notation is a representation of the music using a visual language instead of (or in addition) to the system of traditional music notation. In general, graphic notation can be divided into two groups: the notations that are quite traditional and are using some graphical elements only, and those in which graphic element is the predominant, while traditional characters almost – or at all – are not in use.

Speaking about the notation, first of all we should sing the glory for Guido d’Arezzo (990–1050), who, in fact, invented the system of music notation, which – with various additions and improvements – we still use today. The problem, however, lies in the fact that over the millennia that have passed since that time, our perception of the world - and thus sound in it - has changed. The terms “geometry” and “Euclidean geometry” ceased to be synonymous, the land has ceased to rest on three pillars, and Aristotelian logic has convincingly proved that it is not the only one possible logic. The world has changed, the sound has changed, as well as the ways of fixing the sound. Graphic notation - exactly about those changes. Graphic notation is a fixation of the modalities of the system of fuzzy logic description language, where the relations between signified and signifier are complex and not always codified.

One can find in “Wikipedia” a detailed article devoted to the graphical notation in English, German, French, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese and many other languages. But there is no article for “graphic notation” in Russian. I think it’s significant. It does not mean that graphic notation is not well known or graphical notation is not in use. Moreover, gone are the days when it was something “avant-garde” or even “fashionable”. Graphic notation today is a well-established phenomenon, occupying its own particular niche in composed and improvised music. But at the same time it is a phenomenon quite obviously underestimated, both in terms of the development of the musical text, and great opportunities of visual representation. The present exhibition aims to make its small contribution to filling this gap.

I am grateful to all participants for providing their works, for tips and explanations given in the course of preparation. Many thanks to Vladimir Rannev for comprehensive care.

I’m grateful to Nikolay Medvedev and Art Center “Pushkinskaya-10” for making the “Graphic Sound” exhibition possible.

Dmitry Shubin
curator of the exhibition

List of works

Yury Akbalkan. 5.1.1. For seven sinewaves. (2014)

Vladimir Gorlinsky. Widerhall 2. The Finger of God (2011)

Dmitri Kourliandski. Alcestis part from the opera-installation Nekyia Cycle (2013)

Aleksey Nadzharov. Dual Saxophone.

Aleksey Nadzharov. Girls as Bush. String Quartet.

Sergey Nevsky. Arbeitsfläche (2011). For horn, viola, percussion, piano, tuba and double bass.

Marina Poleukhina. Part as Part of Parts. The glass (2014)

Mark Prishly. Labyrinth Echo (2014)

Vladimir Rannev. Opera "Two Acts" (2005-2012)

Nikolay Rubanov. Closure (2014)

Elena Rykova. Stop at the next cloud or I'll turn into a scorpion (2013)

Aleksey Sysoev. Melancholia (2012). For String Quartet.

Sergey Khizmatov. Suprematic Composition #1 (2008)

Nikolay Khrust. Eugenica 1. Italian concerto (2009). For ensemble and electronics.

Aleksander Chernyshkov. Almatiki daechta for voice solo (2010)

Kirill Shirokov. Untitled beams & rests (2014)

Dmitry Shubin. Acoustic surfaces (2014)

Dmitry Shubin. Sound Constructor (2014). For Improvising orchestra.