Polyrythmic (2018)
Masters graduation work from the Royal
Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp
I learned about artists who have played with the rules of traditional scoring, as well as those who invented completely new ways of transcribing music.
My masters degree began with the intention of figuring out how to transform electronic dance music into jewellery. My research focused on artists who had historically let music influence their art, as well as traditional musical notation and its variations. This research led me to discover a huge variety of alternative scores and writing systems used to communicate music in a visual way, along with a list of visual artists and painters who made efforts to transcribe music in their paintings such as Paul Klee and Kandinsky.
A masterclass by Jo De Baerdemaeker while I was a student at the Academy allowed me to develop a writing system based on visual elements from music production software and digital audio workstations, which I incorporated into my work alongside the patterns and movements within music. I was also able to audit a masters course on electronic music production at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Antwerp, and learned even more about the process of music production, always looking for elements I could use in my practice such as
FM Synthesis and ADSR curves.
My reason for choosing electronic dance music as my specific source of inspiration came from observations regarding the similarity between dance music and (contemporary) jewellery, particularly in their ‘outsider’ status among the fine arts, as well as their connection to the human body and its movements. Music and jewellery can both play an important part in our personal identity and how we express ourselves in society, sending messages about who we are and what matters to us out into the world. My work is predominately made using laser-welded stainless steel, a technique and a material considered by many to be ‘untraditional’ within the world of jewellery. Electronic dance music is also considered ‘untraditional’ in many respects within the world of music, which inspired this method of making my work.
A masterclass by Jo De Baerdemaeker while I was a student at the Academy allowed me to develop a writing system based on visual elements from music production software and digital audio workstations, which I incorporated into my work alongside the patterns and movements within music. I was also able to audit a masters course on electronic music production at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Antwerp, and learned even more about the process of music production, always looking for elements I could use in my practice such as
FM Synthesis and ADSR curves.
My reason for choosing electronic dance music as my specific source of inspiration came from observations regarding the similarity between dance music and (contemporary) jewellery, particularly in their ‘outsider’ status among the fine arts, as well as their connection to the human body and its movements. Music and jewellery can both play an important part in our personal identity and how we express ourselves in society, sending messages about who we are and what matters to us out into the world. My work is predominately made using laser-welded stainless steel, a technique and a material considered by many to be ‘untraditional’ within the world of jewellery. Electronic dance music is also considered ‘untraditional’ in many respects within the world of music, which inspired this method of making my work.
