Putting it all together ...

When the students have completed the compositional tasks, they will need to consider structuring the material into a cohesive performance. This could be done independently of the painting or indeed, the painting could be ‘read’ as a graphic score in some way.

However, a linear reading [left to right or top to bottom] may seem a bit arbitrary and may not produce a musically satisfying result. Indeed, we would rarely look at a painting in this way. Our eye is more likely to move across the surface of the painting more discursively.

One effective strategy, which can also lead to a multimedia performance, is to ‘animate’ the picture in a software programme such as Microsoft Photo Story. This free download [for registered Windows users] enables the user to quickly and easily produce a video in which the ‘virtual camera’ zooms and pans across the surface of the picture. This can be projected during performance and the images used as a trigger for playing the various sections of the completed work.

[Follow online tutorials on Photo Story here]