For the 2013 edition of Ten x Ten, Homeroom put visual artists in
collaboration with composers writing for a small ensemble instead of the
bands and solo performers of past iterations. In an effort to increase
the level of dialogue between the resulting music and prints, Homeroom
hosted a lecture and workshop called Visual Music 101
that took place at the Spudnik Annex in February 2013. The lecture
focused on relationships between color and music starting with early
20th century painting inspired by music and continuing up through light
organs, abstract animation, and contemporary digital manifestations of
visual music. Writer David Metcalfe discussed with the Ten x Ten
participants different methods and techniques for merging sound and
image, using his contribution to the book Chromatic: The Crossroads of Color and Music (ALARM Press) as a jumping off point.
To further emphasize the relationship between color and musical
timbre, the composers were asked to compose for a ensemble of one of two
instrumentations, one dominated by winds, one by strings. Their
corresponding printmaker was asked to worked from limited color palette
in order to compliment each ensemble's warm or cool timbre. The
composer/printmaker partnerships were then left to discuss ideas and
strategies to bring to bear on their collaborative pieces. 8 months
later, the pieces are complete and ready to be viewed and heard!