Steve Lawson + Poppy Porter: Synaesthetic Journey Pt 1 by solobasssteve published on 2015-06-01T12:54:18Z Ta-daa! here's the first public thing from a brand new and v. exciting project: a collaboration with Poppy Porter, painter and jeweller, who has synaesthesia. We met up at the London Bass Guitar show (she's a bassist too!), and Poppy commented that my music triggered a lot of strong images in her synaesthetic brain... So I did what I always do and suggested we collaborate on a project. The idea for a live show with art and music happening simultaneously and influencing one another was an easy one to conjure, but the logistics of it are a little more tricky, as well as the exploration into what else this might mean, what it makes possible, the bigger story it tells... So we met up for a play (I was SO tired having had a v. late night the night before, and Poppy was v. patient with my general wobbliness) and quickly saw that there was a) LOADS of potential in the project, and b) a huge open playing field of exploration to dig around in. Straight away, it became apparent that I play v. differently when I'm thinking about 'triggering' images. The back and forth conversation about what sounds look like shaped the way I played, the way I brought ideas in and out... not a usual compositional path. Seeing the way that patterns and shapes formed, how pitch, timbre and even surprise affect the images that Poppy is capturing - it all feeds back into the music. The music here is definitely a co-creation between Poppy and I... there's a whole fascinating exploration here about the nature of authorship, and the degree to what real time interaction changes our understanding of influence vs co-creation... For Poppy, there’s a whole other area of ‘woah!’ - that of being a ‘private producer of finished work’ suddenly getting (having?) to view her process as performative. There are time constraints, spacial considerations, interaction... myriad layers to consider that haven’t previously been factored in. We’ve got a whole load more things we’re talking about, discussing, experimenting with, and I don’t want to give away all the magic now - the sketch in the image here is the beginnings of one of the drawings from that first session (I don’t actually think it was from this piece, which will mess with poor Poppy’s head no end!) This is a really exciting experiment for me, and I can’t wait to do more of it :) Please do check out more of Poppy’s work at http://www.poppyporter.com Genre Bass Comment by A Ninja Slob Drew Me A soothing but complex soundscape. 2015-11-16T10:52:38Z Comment by Bob Devlin Very nice, soothing. 2015-06-09T19:41:12Z Comment by Anne-Laure (Sibylline) I think I like the description of the interactive process even more than the produced art itself. That's an awesome idea guys!!! Keep on with the good work :) 2015-06-01T14:07:47Z