Kids’ Art and Experimental Music

The following videos demonstrate my recent fascination with using toy noisemakers as means for taking me down new sonic avenues. Much of my work in the area of sonic exploration is rooted in the simple idea that if you want unconventional outcomes, the process through which you create must also be unconventional. Two persons who've been major sources of inspiration are visual artists, Jackson Pollock, and Ushio Shinohara. Whereby I'm into exploring unconventional ways to move air through the instrument, they've introduced the art world to new ways of applying paint to canvasses.

 JACKSON POLLOCK (DRIP-PAINTING)

Jackson Pollock's signature extended painting technique was drip painting, whereby he did away with the conventional means of applying paint to the canvass. First off, his canvass was on the floor, not upright on an easel. Secondly, instead of using traditional painting techniques, he would hurl, fling, drop, drip, and splash the paint onto the canvass. Hence, why he arrived at unconventional outcomes. 








USHIO SHINOHARA (BOXING PAINTING)

Ushio Shinohara's approach, though different from Pollock's, did, however, yield similar non-linear outcomes. Shinohara developed a technique called boxing painting, whereby he dipped boxing gloves in paint and punched the canvas in order to splatter it across the canvas. He first demonstrated this style in 1960 while in Japan

EXAMPLE 1

The first example is a piece I call 'Saxo-Kazoo-O-Phone." Here, I've attached a toy kazoo to the neck of the soprano, which is used in place of the traditional mouthpiece. Even in the world of toy wind noisemakers, the kazoo is unique, because you can't just blow through it, you have to hum while blowing through it in order to create the buzzing effect. And as an added effect,  I attached a set of wind chimes that dangle from the neck strap holder. I use this as a kind of sonic backdrop. As I see it as an aural version of a canvass.

EXAMPLE 2

The next piece does not have a title, but it does follow a similar approach except that I use a plastic toy trumpet as my sound source and mouthpiece replacement. Again, fro sonic canvass purposes, I've attached 5 inch round balloons filled with dry rice, that causes the balloons to function as shakers as I move my fingers. The purpose of this is to take the ear in a different direction if needed.





This is the first installment of these types of prepared saxophone explorations. More to come. 

Thanks for reading!