CURVEBALL:
digital
minimal/op
art.

Some time ago I composed and recorded a piece of music entitled Seurat. It was an attempt at describing musically Seurat's genius in inventing a new art form that we know today as pointillism.

 

The Seine features in his two most famous works, each composed on opposite banks of the river. My composition methodology for all music works is dots on a score followed by a digital rendering. I tried to use strings to depict the river's gentle flow.

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I know how long it takes to write a score and felt an empathy with the dots on "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte." This great work, some 2 x 3 metres took Seurat two years to complete.

 

He died tragically at just 31, making the work seem all the more impressive. I love the idea that Georges knew the brain would interpret the dots of colour and tried to innovate a different viewing experience, rather than prescriptively mixing the colours on a palette.

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I have gone on to love and be fascinated at the effect the illusory works of Riley, Escher and others have in teasing my brain. I have endeavoured to create my own optical art.

 

Work #57 Parallel Lines is an example. They are actually parallel lines, but the brain is telling you otherwise. #308 is minimalist artwork, but has movement even though the work is static. #30 proves you can only focus on one image at a time. #24 Octasun has parallel lines but they seem to slope away. #18 is composed of solid circles of colour that appear to pulse.  And #1 composed of solid blocks of merging colours has the central colour radiating into the corners. JME