Tobias Gutmann, what is polyphonic drawing?

Polyphonic drawing is a graphic-musical dialogue between improvisational saxophonist Pablo Lienhard and myself. Drawing and music emerge during this performance partly together or in rhythmic intervals one after the other. Ink and sound complement each other to create an audiovisual composition lasting up to thirty minutes.

Such drawings are pieces of music involving rhythm, sound and movement. They have a beginning and an end. The calligraphy pen is my instrument, the ink the sound. When a drawing is finished, it continues to sound silently and serves the musical interpretation as notation.

This graphic-musical dialogue can also be translated into a portable work of art. Thus polyphonic drawing eventually became polyphonic knitwear: sustainably produced knitted sweaters from Switzerland, whose patterns result from the drawings emerging during the performances.

Sound on paper: Images from polyphonic drawing performances. Photograph: © Tobias Gutmann