Under various stages of Covid-19 ‘lockdown’ conditions, sonic improvisors are isolated from their ‘play’ mates and communities. The drawing featured above, made 16 March 2020, was a first response to the imminent ‘lockdown’ situation and initiated an ongoing project with other improvisors and sonic artists. In this series, I invite people to send me a recording (5 mins max) of freely improvised sound, using whatever they want – voice, objects, musical instruments. I listen to the unheard recording on my laptop and make a spontaneous drawing, responding to the sounds with line, marks, scratches and scrapes. Obviously, the video I produce does not replicate the sound quality of the original recording sent to me. Instead, in a kind of performative palimpsest, it adds ambient mark-making noises, multiplying layers of sonic and graphic improvisation. To complete the circle, I send the original drawing to the improviser via the ordinary mail.
Click on the image to see the video of the live performance drawing.
Isolation Improv Drawing 1 – Sonic improvisation recorded by Geoff Bright and Gillian Whiteley on 16 March 2020 at 156 Arundel St. Drawing by bricolagekitchen 16 March 2020.
Isolation Improv Drawing 2 – Sonic improvisation recorded by John Jasnoch on 23 April 2020 in his ‘box room’. Drawing by bricolagekitchen 14 May 2020.
Isolation Improv Drawing 3 – Sonic improvisation recorded by Nathan Bettany on 1 May 2020 on his allotment. Drawing by bricolagekitchen 14 May 2020.
Isolation Improv Drawing 4 – Sonic improvisation recorded by Mick Beck on 27 April 2020 at his home. Drawing by bricolagekitchen 15 May 2020.
Isolation Improv Drawing 5 – Sonic improvisation recorded by Lyn Hodnett on 21 May 2020 in a bedroom/mezzanine studio, 1300ft up a mountain near Bala, North Wales. Drawing by bricolagekitchen 29 May 2020.
Isolation Improv Drawing 6 – Sonic improvisation recorded by Martin Archer on on 23 May 2020 at Discus Music Studio in Sheffield. Drawing by bricolagekitchen 29 May 2020.
Isolation Improv Drawing 7 – Sonic improvisation recorded by oneoftheroughs on 2 June 2020 at 156 Arundel Street, Sheffield. Drawing by bricolagekitchen 2 June 2020.
Isolation Improv Drawing 8 – Sonic improvisation recorded by Anton Hunter on 28 May 2020 at home, near Stockport. Drawing by bricolagekitchen 2 June 2020.
Isolation Improv Drawing 9 – Sonic improvisation recorded by Cath Roberts on 28 May 2020 in her living room at home. Drawing by bricolagekitchen 7 June 2020.
Isolation Improv Drawing 10 – Sonic improvisation recorded by Walt Shaw on 28 May 2020 in his spare bedroom at his home in Hilton, South Derbyshire, using cymbals, hand-made gongs, drums, hand percussion. Drawing by bricolagekitchen 7 June 2020.
Isolation Improv Drawing 11 – Sonic improvisation recorded by Dee Byrne on 1 July 2020 at her flat in Kentish Town, London. Drawing by bricolagekitchen 2 July 2020.
Isolation Improv Drawing 12 – Sonic improvisation recorded by Helen Papaioannou on 26 June 2020 in her ‘box room’ at home in Sheffield. Drawing by bricolagekitchen 2 July 2020.
Isolation Improv Drawing 13 – Sonic improvisation recorded by Johnny Hunter on 6 July 2020 in Cheshire. Drawing by bricolagekitchen 24 July 2020.
