Diploma Thesis
2005
How can I see what I can hear?
An attempt in visualising music with typograhic means
Part of music's appeal lies in its dissocation from any material context. To visualise music is a highly abstract task. Visual arts have attempted several methods of visualising music or of making invisible emotions visible. Between the abstract and the material the artist acts as a medium, transforming subjective sensations into tangible entities - a sort of filter with a defined space and limited means of expression.
Finding an abstract visual language that turns music into optical signals, in a convincing manner not bound by notes is what this contribution considers graphic music. Printed paper turns into a sonic space. Lines, points, areas, linear forms and basic patterns in various gray tones possess qualities of tones and sounds, serve as a method of making structures visible and in doing so are the visual equivalent of music. The type of conversion from music into art in this work is highly subjective.
However, it is based on strictly defined number of forms, generated from Berthold Akzidenz Grotesk Bold and another cut of the same font.
The result of my thesis was a book, bound in a special poster (which you can see in the posters section). Inside is a complete alphabetical type deconstruction with examples and the application to the visualisation of music. If you want to, you can download a small .pdf-file with some examples from the research and the sides inside the book.