Toward a Poetic of Visual Music, by Jerry Holsopple

Abstract: Toward a Poetic of Visual Music-A philosophic and artistic exploration of the creation of visual music. Music composition, unlike most other forms of media, which are heavily influenced by the image-based electracy, has remained in the oral or literate age with the image rarely playing an influential part in the composition process. Arthur Schopenhauer suggests that music expresses the essence of the Will, while the other arts are only shadows of it. The challenge for the visual musician is to create visual experiences that match the level achieved by music. The artistic component, the Visual Music 8/8 Project, explores two ways of creating visual music. The first is creating visuals that have the character of music and which viewers respond to in ways that are similar to how they respond to music. The second and more difficult task is to find ways to compose, produce, and play music using a visual aesthetic

Visual Music PDF (545k)

Visual Music 8/8 Project Online