Creative exchange 01

From November 2023 to February 2024, I participated in a creative exchange with Berlin-based studio onformative for a total of four months. Among the various themes that the studio was working on, I was particularly interested in Graphic Notation from a structural perspective, so it was a great opportunity for me to conduct in-depth image research.
<strong>Overall Visualization process of 'Graphic Notation'</strong>
#8 : Final Visualizations

These graphic notation images are the result of months of visual training, research, and experimentation.
By deconstructing the conventional systems and structures of musical scores, I reconstructed them in my own visual language, bridging traditional notation with modern instrumental equipment and circuit devices.

<strong>Final Design 01-02-03-04</strong>
<strong>Details 01-02-03-04</strong>
Here's how it all came together:
#1 : Artefacts

In the beginning of concretizing the image, I initially wanted to express something that remains historically through the keyword “artefacts” and the classicism of graphic notation.

#2 : How Ground can be used?

How ground can be used to represent scores ? The idea of creating a sense of ripples, as if the frequencies were spreading out from the main object. Searched for graphical scores that have a circular shape.

#3 : Metal & Kinetic

Restarted over based on the structure of the metal. Practiced creating a structure with a pentatonic staff and creating a kinetic sculpture within it using musical notes, digits from a metronome, and a scale line.

#4 : Abstractness & Pencil drawing

Turned back to the matte Pflaster material, thought it is better for the expression of Abstractness. Added some curvy staff lines and unregular pencil traces.

#5 : Multi-layer

As an improvisation and as an experiment, I added more layers to create a more intriguing image by introducing a slight sense of dimensionality—through the arrangement of multiple rectangles and floating musical notes.

#6 : Restructuring & Reimagining

The varied colors and heightened abstraction prompt a renewed consideration of the image.

#7 : Analog Synthesizer

At this point, I decided to expand beyond 2D graphics by incorporating a synthesizer, edited into a graphic notation structure. This approach allows for a more structured exploration, connecting classical and modern design elements through circuit-based, symbol-based, and other varied graphic score constructions.

#9 Approach & Reflection
Through this process, I explored ways to move beyond elements that could be directly read as "Graphic Notation." I experimented with replacing traditional components—musical notes, staff lines, sheet music—with unrelated items, signs, and modular forms, hoping to emphasize the three-dimensionality of the 3D graphic image.

My goal was to deconstruct the concept of classical sheet music and create a structure that resists immediate legibility, one that invites interpretation. Working as a visual artist, this project taught me how to reinterpret existing graphic notation images, transforming them into something that exists between music and pure visual language. The process challenged me to think about how both musical and visual literacy can be questioned, and how viewers might navigate meaning in their own way.
Progress
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