Notation for Sound Art involving live presence

Increasingly, artists from different disciplines, for example poets and musicians, are working together outside of traditional artistic relationships. Traditionally, for instance, a poet might write a libretto to instructions from a musician; and then take no further creative part in the work. This research investigates an aspect of what happens when the collaboration persists throughout the making of the work; and where one aspect of the work (e.g. a libretto) is subordinated to the overall musical piece.
Such changes in practice arise not just from social changes and new thought in modernist and postmodernist aesthetics, but from the possibilities afforded by developments in new media tools in use by artists.
Many of these tools may be used in ways for which traditional notational systems are inappropriate. And the same applies to methods of working, especially when a poet works on equal terms with painters and musicians in areas that are not, traditionally, the poet's.
Notations have been developed to deal with this on an ad hoc basis; but this research proposes to investigate and draw conclusions from a representative selection of such ad hoc notations.
For instance, do they actually work objectively for any artist who uses them? What limitations do they have? How may they be improved? How might they be standardized for the benefit of those who do not wish to develop their own system? In short, is it possible to establish a good practice in this area.
The Researcher will be the poet and sound artist and graphic artist, Lawrence Upton, who will build on his previous research into the notation of sound and visual poetry; the extension of the poem into dance; and the writing of collaborative performance pieces which cut across traditional artistic category boundaries
The research will be based in the Music Department of Goldsmith's college where there is already considerable interest and expertise in many of the areas concerned.
It is intended that, by the time the project has been completed in three years time, there will have been produced a number of new multi- & cross-media works, especially collaborative, their performance open to the public; a number of conference and seminar presentations & papers in academic journals; a published collection or collections of interviews with practitioners; online documentation and texts; and a CD with booklet of selected works.
The research will be conducted by observation and study of existing new works; by interview of a range of practitioners; and by testing conclusions and theories in practice by applying them to the composition and notation of new collaborative works.
Apart from Upton himself, a number of members of the Music Dept will be closely involved in aspects of the work; and Upton will be looking for collaborators in all aspects of his research in the college as a whole: this may include, Computing, Drama, Media and Communication, Visual Arts and Goldsmiths Digital Studios.