IMPROVISATION

• This page explores the commonality between jazz improvisation as espoused by Bill Evans and our own Form Generation drawings.

Time was, improvisation was at the heart of culture. Pre Renaissance, if you played music, you were supposed to improvise, as the notes were only a general guideline. Post Renaissance, the greats, Mozart or List, for instance, loved to improvise. Now, when playing a Chopin Ballad, if you interpret even one note or phrase differently than what the score shows, then you have made what is called a mistake.

Bill Evans credits jazz for re introducing improvisation back into our culture. His conception of improvisation is in relation to a structure, to a framework. The chordal structure of a tune is this framework. And by his definition, the best improvisation fits within this framework.

“Its better to do something simple which is real because it is something you can build on. It is all within the absolute framework of what you are doing.” 15:00

Transparent Drawing provides a method to first establish a framework, and then improvise in relation to this framework, just like jazz. Our image processing from Source Images to Form Generation is, by Evans’ definition, improvisation. Each line, be it a musical line or a drawn line, is revealed on the paper. The improvisational responses are shown. And I am typically surprised by what has happened.

“One of the most thrilling things about jazz as a spontaneous creative process is recording it and then hearing oneself and being so surprised by what has happened.” 9:11

For the drawing above, I had no idea it would end up smelling like malic moulds. From three source images that had varied vertical elements (silos, bones, machine thread spools), I form combined them with simple lines, mostly with water soluble pencils. This established the framework. I then improvised within this framework with an orange pastel pencil: I found a common form resonance from the framework. Applying only water, the wash picked up tone from the lines, including the pastel, and all of a sudden, our old friend, S.L.M.M! I had no pre conceived notion that this is where I would end up.

Each one of these gestures / responses is visible on the paper. The entire image processing is laid out before you. Just as in an improvised musical line, once it is played, it cannot be removed, each one of our lines and tones, once put down, cannot be removed.

Playing from a written score is the same as representational drawing: the piece has to sound like everyone expects it to, and your drawing has to look like what others think your drawing should look like while looking at what you are looking at. With Transparent Drawing, where you end up is a result of your improvisation: a pathway is provided for your spontaneous and holistic gestures and lines.

1. Bill Evans Archive. Universal Mind of Bill Evans. 1966. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwXAqIaUahI&t=943s