WHAT IS IT LIKE
TO BE PLAYFUL?
TO PERFORM?
ART SCORE BOOK --<°>^.-s-^
This artistically designed score aims to ignite the sonic imagination of a musical composition named —<°>^.°-s-^.
In this playful book, artist Vincent Glanzmann aimes to interweave music, thought, and performative elements, to animate the reader’s perception, as if they themselves were performing the piece.
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PLAYING A
PIECE CALLED
--<°>^.-s-^
WHAT IS
THE STORY
BEHIND
THIS BOOK?
CO-AUTHORSHIP
Yes, —<°>^.°-s-^ has actually been performed live. Throughout the two years of performing —<°>^.°-s-^ throughout Europe, there had been multiple conversations with interested audience members after the shows. People from different backgrounds and with unique perspectives on what they had just experienced. I was stunned by the richness of these conversations. Seeking a way to engage with the expressed view points, I began to re-examine my work through these newly gained perspectives. Continuously I found myself integrating these alternative views into the piece, letting the audience become a transformative force within the evolution of the piece.
Increasingly, this procedure installed the feeling in me of entering a co-authorship with my audience. The thought of incorporating these verbal interactions into —<°>^.°-s-^ delighted me. It was an opportunity to immortalize the contact with the audience through an artistic act within the work itself.
I aimed to make the ever-evolving nature of this piece, shaped by the viewer’s genuine perception, a central aspect of its publication. Choosing the format of a book allows me to leave room for interpretation and imagination, while letting the music itself exist in a non-absolute state.
PUBLISHING
For this book publication I am blessed to work with the award-winning art book publisher cpress. It’s directors Christof Oeschger and Christoph Nüssli understand how to treat the books they are publishing with the same care with which they were created. I am pleased to work with this Zurich-base publishing company.
HUMOR AND SERIOUSNESS
While preparing the performance of —<°>^.°-s-^, I noticed a prevailing attitude of utter seriousness when I imagined myself on stage. Given my naturally lively and humorous disposition, I found this seriousness somewhat off-putting and too dominant in the art itself. Exploration began to figure out ways to disrupt this seriousness within the composition and performance. Through this exploration, my performative methods evolved, leading to a dynamic interplay between seriousness and humor. This interplay soon became a vital opportunity for extended dramaturgical design. Ultimately, humor and seriousness became integral elements of the piece, enriching the work and continuing to influence my performances to this day.
BOOK
With this art score book, I am inspired to incorporate the aspect of co-authorship as well as the theme of humor and seriousness in the depiction of text and image and even the book’s cover.
Playful, comic-like hand drawings that visualize instrumental scenes contrast with a strict and meticulous script. The drawings show a carefree, playful approach, while the script represents focus and control in the smallest detail. A classic cloth cover evokes the connotation of a significant scientific work, which is ironically broken by an embossed hand drawing and a bright color.
HISTORY AND MOTIVATION
After completing the tour for —<°>^.°-s-^ at the end of 2019, I felt the urge to document this phase. Following my habit, I went to the studio. After two days of obesessing over meticulous recording work at Manuel Egger’s Suburban Sound Studio, Winterthur, Switzerland, I was pleased with the recreation of the live performance within the studio. The mastering, which I commissioned Rashad Becker with, delighted my heart even further. However, what was missing were crucial aspects like the above mentioned co-authorship and the topic of humor and seriousness, that had become part of the work due to long practice. I decided to hold back the finished album and wait to see if some other release format would spark my interest. Ultimately, my joy in design ended up showing me a way to integrate these lost aspects. Through visual language, I found ways to incorporate the interactive performative aspects of the work. The format of an art score book allowed for an implementation of the basic ideas of my performance practice.
While working on a solo commission for the Kunstmuseum Luzern, Switzerland, I revisited the working notes for —<°>^.°-s-^. That was two years later, in 2021. To my surprise, a visual language with clear contours and inherent guidelines presented itself to me. A uniformly strict and meticulous script combined with playful hand drawings, somewhere between scientific drawings and comics. Looking through these notes, it dawned on me how I wanted to share —<°>^.°-s-^ with the public. Not as a final, absolute audio recording, but rather as an artistic score. An interested audience should be able to imagine their own final version while reading.
ART SCORE BOOK
PLAYFUL AND EXQUISITE
LIMITED EDITION
100 Books
LAUNCHES
SPRING 2025
- SIXTY PAGES OF:
- PERSONAL HAND-WRITING
- PLAYFUL HAND-DRAWINGS
- ARTISTIC REFLECTIONS
WHAT ABOUT THE
AUTHOR?
HI, I'M VINCENT
Why did create this book? I think I did so out of my intrinsic love for meticulously designed and hand-crafted objects. As a drummer, sound designer, and creative director, my passion for all forms of design runs deep, resonating with a part of me that cherishes raw creativity and precision.
Yeah, that’s definitely my weak spot.
This book is for those who appreciate carefully and joyfully designed objects, the non-linear nature of artistic processes, and the excitement of maintaining clarity, focus and playfulness within your craft while being observed by others.
I hope you enjoy it!
Vincent