Helen Davey Cox

WHAT 
This cross-arts  project seeks to draw us into the intersecting prism between the artforms: the art coming in one side of the prism, refracting out the other side as sound. 

WHO 
Collaborating with many artists, I selected one of their works to transmute the essence into music. I call my interpretations, "sound-paintings. The art comes from a range of art practitioners (visual, text, film, theatre, and dance) and Nature. 

WHEN 
I began this project the year I turned 52, hence the title. It was originally presented as a weekly, online event, in a blog format with many comments from artists and interested viewers. Every Thursday afternoon for almost a year, I created, recorded, mixed and uploaded a new sound-painting. I published each Friday morning at 9am as a blog post. Each session was completed in less than 24 hours. 

WHY 
Over a decade, I'd been developing my live sound-paintings during performances with various ensembles. My live sound-paintings were impromtu solo improvisations to spontaneous stories volunteered from audience members. Quite ephemeral: immediately disappearing into the whisper of the audience's memory. Yet it was always fascinating because each audience - and their volunteers - was drawn into that prism of inter-connectedness we can share through immersive arts experiences. 

I felt the need to deepen my engagement with that prism, so decided to document my process via an online cross-arts series. This way, I had more time to interpret the artworks, (rather than the on-the-spot immediacy of improvising live). And I could relish getting into that prism - a place of profound connection with my sense of self. 

HOW 
The project design gave me the option to record sound layers using a wider assortment of instruments simultaneously; (with live-sound-paintings my sound sources are restricted to two hands, ie. I can't play guitar and xylophone together). Ultimately my aim was to interpret the essence of each artwork, using the art form's elements, content and context, then in turn attributing corresponding musical meaning to each sound layer. 
My early recorded sound-paintings reflect my novice music production skills, especially with my self imposed time contraints. Uploading ar 9am Fridays meant I built up a body of work exploring the prism of interconnectedness, many art works, collaboarations, my own artistic process and a wealth of interesting topics. It was a massive undertaking and I learnt a LOT in the process. Unfortunately, due to a series of cyber space glitches, hosting companies going under and covid delays, my project 52 disappeared. In the relaunch, the format has changed but the art and music are here. 

NOW
So where is this project 52? In the navigation menu, click onto "Project 52: Sound-Paintings".
Each image features one artist’s work, their description, my corresponding “Sound-Painting” and a chronicle of my creative process. Hope you enjoy ‘listening to artworks speak’.