Performance-Painting at The Esplanade

Music as a muse: Automatic Drawings
(22nd-24th June 2007, Esplanade Concourse)
It was my first performance-painting collaboration with a musician. In fact, it was the first time Esplanade presents a visual arts performance of this nature. Mr. Indrasani Mursalim played his Flamenco pieces wonderfully in all the six performance over three evenings. If you’ve missed it, too bad. Look out for my youtube posting when that becomes available. Ms Michelle Chua, the producer for this programme, who paired us together was very helpful in ensuring that the performance went on smoothly. Also a special mention of thanks to my one-man crew Mr. Dino Hafian.
Though I had jitters before going on stage each time, I was totally immersed in automatism when the music played and my brush touches the paper. The drawing process was equally as important as the end result. I refrained from thinking about what to draw, so the picture unfolds infront of me as well as it did for the audience. Mr. Mursalim played set pieces that provided the muse but eventually adjusted his playing as the drawing develops, hence the painting then becomes the muse for music. The painting measuring 16ft x 4ft was completed when the music ended (about 20 minutes). The images were different each time.
We performed to a large appreciative audience judging from the applause. The comments given during the question and answer sessions were enouraging. Several viewers from the audience told me later that they were mesmerised by the expressiveness of movements and strokes that breaths the passion of Flamenco music. In all I consider this a successful artistic collaboration and a wonderful experience.