Sound

Introduction: 

Hearing is one of the most exciting of our 5 senses.  Sound can enhance our visual experiences!  When you incorporate sound with art you get a really fun interactive experience!  A lot of sound-based artwork is made into an installation (artwork that transforms a space) or performance art and sometimes asks for audience participation.  


Questions to Ask Yourself:

• What does sound look like? 

• How do sounds express an emotion?  How do soft and loud sounds have different effects?

• What colors do you connect to different sounds?  Example: When you hear classical piano music, what color do you imagine? When you hear heavy metal, what color do you imagine?

• How can you combine some or all of the 5 senses in your artwork? (Hearing, Sight, Touch, Smell, and Taste)

Project Idea Starters:

• Draw sounds you hear.  Make a song playlist and draw to the music.  Listen to everyday sounds in the hallway or outside and draw what you hear.  

• Attach specific colors to sounds or instruments and then pick a song to paint what you hear (see Melissa McCracken's work below).

• Invent a musical instrument. 

• Make an interactive sculpture that makes noise.  Make it so other people can interact with it! 

• Make onomatopoeia artwork (artwork that illustrates a word that sounds like it is spelled, like "bam" or "splash"). Here is a list of onomatopoeia words for inspiration. 

• Make a wind chime.

Artists Who Work With the Theme of "Sound": (good artists to research)

1. Nick Cave

• Is an artist and educator from Chicago. 

• Makes "Sound Suits" made out of found materials, fibers, fabrics, and more.  They are wearable objects that make noise, turning a sculpture into performance art!

• He is inspired by identity.  His suits originally came as a response from experiences of being racial profiled (judged by the color of your skin).  The suits he makes camouflage the body, forcing the viewer to look without judgement. 

• Click here for a video about him. 

2. Melissa McCracken

Painting to John Lennon's "Imagine"

• Is a female artist from Kansas City who has Synesthesia (Don't know that that big word means? Click to see a short video defining Synesthesia).

• She sees colors when she hears music.  Sometimes she attaches specific colors to certain instruments. Ex: the classical guitar is usually painted as a golden brown and she sees modern country music as a dirty yellow/orange color. 

Sources: http://www.jackshainman.com/artists/nick-cave/; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEJ3eKSlm04; http://www.melissasmccracken.com/#!imagine/cusa; http://www.mtv.com/news/2146358/melissa-mccracken-synesthesia-art/;