11 June 2008, #2. "IKB 191" - 6m14s

For my second painting, I chose Yves Klein's indelible "IKB 191." That's actually a fib. I chose International Klein Blue, and "IKB 191" is one of a number of monochromatic paintings Klein made with that color. Here is the painting:

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Recorded on June 11th, 2008, at Magic Closet Studios, in Portland, OR.

There is a physiological/psychological phenomenon called synesthesia that affects a great deal of people. Synesthesia is defined as the production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body. Different people experience it in different ways - for some, it means associating different words or letters with different colors ("Tuesday seems rather bluish!"). Some people will see colors and imagine them having particular textures. It's not just imagination, either; the person will actually feel the color, or smell it. It is a fascinating condition, and I recommend that you read more about it.

So, without listening to it, I bet you can guess that this piece will be the most synesthetic by far of my painting improvs. While for "Christina's World," I mainly used the image as a launching pad, a font of inspiration, with "IKB 191" I grabbed on to the bright blue idea, and kept it in the forefront of my mind. Now, I am not a synesthete, so this piece is not a transcription of what I heard as I imagined the painting. But I did my best to translate the viewing experience into music, and throughout the entire piece I tried to play the painting, play the blue.

Still, there seems to be an arc, a dramatic line to the piece; I'm sure it is harder to avoid in a time-based art. (I suppose I could have just played a big, fat B flat major chord.) After all, it needs to start, and it needs to finish. "IKB 191" (the painting) is dazzling and upfront, but it doesn't feel abrupt to me. So maybe the music fits after all.