Acrylic on canvas.

Canvas of 150cm x 150cm with additions of standard petrol canisters. 

During the creations of 'Fuel' and later 'Birdland' there were ongoing discussions with studio colleagues about interesting and varying ways in which these works could be displayed as opposed to simply hanging them on the wall. 

The petrol canisters (filled with water) can support the weight of the canvas leaning off the wall, and they have a link to the content of the painting. As mentioned before, this painting was created while repeatedly listening to Metallica's 'Fuel,' and the cans are commonly associated with holding petrol. The cans then explore the literal meaning of the song and also help to experiment with combining paintings and objects together, something I haven't really investigated previously. 

Acrylic on canvas. 80cm x 80cm

The idea of this smaller painting was synthesised during the creation of the three previous paintings. They were examples of endurance; listening to one song on repeat constantly for long periods of time. So a question was raised; why do they need to take so long? 

With this painting I restricted myself to a single playback of the song that I had chosen to paint to which, in this instance was 'Mama' by Genesis. 

The song in entirety is 5 minutes and 19 seconds long, which is all I allowed myself in order to create this painting. This is why you can see the paint begin to grow thin and fade out on the right hand side of the canvas; I ran out of time. 

However, this painting is now finished and CANNOT be worked back into. Once the song has finished the painting is finished also. 

Acrylic on Canvas.  96 x 55cm.

Building on what was slightly explored when creating 'Eye of the Tiger' in which I unconsciously addressed the structure of the song as opposed to the emotions that maybe I experienced. 

This painting as a result of that, contains the separated instrument tracks of Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway To Heaven.' From the top to the bottom you have: vocals, guitar solo, guitar, flutes, keyboard, bass and finally drums. I was studying Wassily Kandinsky's colour theories and the way he related them to the instruments and sounds of the orchestra while I was creating this piece and I attempted to select the colours that would be appropriate. However, the orange chosen for the guitar turned out to be far too close in shade to the red of the vocals, the same with the purple of the bass alongside the black of the drums. 

I also feel that acrylic paint is not the ideal choice for the subject matter. It has all been plotted accurately using precise measurements calculating the timings of the song with a second of time being represented by 2 millimetres on the surface of the canvas. 

Canvas over wood. 80cm x 80cm.

A bit of an experiment that resulted from an idea spawned during a tutorial with a visiting artist. Upon seeing 'Stairway To Heaven' we discussed how I had used white acrylic paint to represent the empty space, the silence in music. 

It was pointed out that by placing white it suggested that there was still something present as a layer had been placed. To represent silence more effectively it may be worth considering the natural surface of the canvas. 

But instead of simply leaving it blank, I decided I wanted to cut into the surface of the canvas to represent something penetrating the blank space, like sound disrupting the silence. On the back of one of the stretchers that I had previously made up (originally for another painting) I attached a board of MDF which I then spray painted black inside the stretcher so that when I cut into the canvas it would reveal the painted wood behind. 

Unfinished 

Spray paint on canvas. 42 x 32.5cm.

An attempt at developing the ideas addressed during the making of 'Stairway To Heaven.' Trying to achieve a solid straight edge with acrylic paint on canvas was proving to be very difficult so I made the move to spray paints as the application of them allowed for a much cleaner finish to be achieved. 

This is the second attempt at creating this painting, the first one was very unsuccessful as it bled underneath the tape heavily. As a result the first attempt was destroyed before it was finished. 

So I attempted the painting again, this time using a much more durable tape. However, you can still see that it has not been successful especially around the edges of the black bar. Back to the drawing board with this idea I think.

Each painting in this series varies in size as the board size is calculated depending on the length of the song. This is calculated in the same way that the positioning of the paint is using a system of 2 millimetres per every second. 

Spray paint on wood. 65 x 32.5cm.

The fourth painting in the series 'Songboards,' created using the same method of mathematically plotting the timings of the tracks of a certain song (still 2 millimetres assigned to every second) and using spray paint on wood board. 

The song represented here is Metallica's 'Sad But True.'

You may have noticed from 'You Shook Me All Night Long II' and 'You Shook Me All Night Long III' that the colours assigned to the certain tracks have changed. I studied Kandinsky's theories in more depth and decided that a few of them had originally been chosen incorrectly. The current system is much more accurate however. 

Starting at the top; yellow represents the vocals and red the guitars. Bass and drums have remained the same with purple and black respectively as I believe that these were wise, informed choices.

Spray paint on wood. 51.2 x 32.5cm.

The sixth painting in the 'Songboards' series; this one represents Led Zeppelin's 'Heartbreaker.' 

What is particularly effective with this painting is where the vocals, bass and drums all cut out while the guitar continues to play, starting the solo. It is a feature that stands out against some of the other paintings in the series as it is not commonly seen. This represents the nature of the song in a way, as it is generally quite uncommon for there to be a long silence underneath a solo in rock music.

Spray paint on wood. 70.2 x 40cm. 

The eighth song in the series 'Songboards.' This one varied slightly from the other nine in the series as it was one that I had never listened to before I began work on it. 

Like 'Paradise City' this painting has five tracks instead of the more common four. During the middle eight of the song, where the heavy bass and drums drop out, you can hear an organ accompanying the vocals and the guitar. According to Kandinsky's colour theories, the organ is associated with a dark blue. The spray paint I therefore used was the darkest blue I could get my hands on. 

You will also notice that at the end of the vocal, guitar, bass and drum tracks the bars do not end with the usual vertical edge instead tapering off diagonally. The reason for this is because this song fades out so I have tried to capture this decrease in dynamic by gradually fading out the bar. 

Spray paint on wood. 75.6 x 40cm.

The final painting in the 'Songboards' series, and I believe one of the more aesthetically pleasing ones. This painting represents Black Sabbath's 'Black Sabbath.'

Interesting contrasts in how the instruments are used during the song; you have small, infrequent bursts of vocals, meanwhile the guitar is running throughout right up until the very end. 

The small grey block at the bottom left represents the sound effects heard at the start of the track. This includes the sound of rain and thunder, something that sets the tone for the song. 

Audio Track

The final part of 'He Bangs the Drum,' an audio recording of the performance. 

Click on the link to the right to check out the audio for the performance!

Sculpture - 12mm steel bars with paint pots, canvas and spray paint.

A photograph of the 'He Bangs the Drum' sculpture; a homemade replica of a drum kit, as used in the performance. The stands for the drums are created from 12mm steel bars welded into a tripod (adjustable) to support the weight. The drums are discarded paint pots that have been cleaned out and repainted. Canvas has then been stretched over the top and glued around the edges.

As a result of the variation of the size of the pots there is a variation in pitch of the percussion. This is something that helps to make the sculpture more authentic in its purpose; it becomes a usable instrument as opposed to a piece of art.

Paintings on wood boards with egg crate foam. 2 x 2.4m

(Sly appearance from the sculptural element of 'He Bangs the Drum')

Another subtle nod to the music studio aesthetic through the use of the egg crate foam; encasing the paintings to create the wall mounted part of the installation. 

This wall is completely covered while the other two remain bare apart from the positioning of the amplifier and the projection. It had been my plan originally to continue this design around the three walls, but by scaling it back a more minimal, clean and ordered atmosphere is created. 

The limiting of the paintings and the egg crate foam to just one wall means more emphasis is subsequently placed on the sculpture, video and audio elements of the installation.