Mia Salsjö

Introduction

Comprising drawing, sound and performance, Mia Salsjö’s multidisciplinary project The Bridge continues the artist’s investigation into the translation of architectural forms into site-specific musical compositions. Beginning with architectural studies of the Sydney Harbour Bridge sourced from public collections and state archives, together with her close observations and sensorial experience of the site, Salsjö transcribed the famous landmark into a musical score using her own coding system of numbers, lines and dots; resulting in a 10-minute composition for 6 brass instruments.

Inquiry questions

  • Describe the lines, textures, sounds and shapes of the bridge? Can you describe them without using words?
  • Find a stationary pose that you feel represents the bridge. Now think about how the bridge might move - imagine it walking as a person! How might this person talk?

Creative learning activity

Process:

Part 1

  1. Break into 4 groups. As a group, choose one element of the bridge. For example:
    - The components of the bridge: steel, road, the sandstone pylons, screws and bolts
    - The wind passing through the structure of the bridge
    - The water, boats and schools of fish traveling beneath it
    - The transport traveling across it
  2. Experiment with different ways to represent your chosen element with sound. Try to use only your voice or mouth to make the sound as you will be using your body in the next step.
  3. In your groups, experiment with creating different gestures for your sounds – you could create a whole body movement, or create something small like tracing a shape on the palm of your hand. Repeat each sound and gesture for one minute.
  4. As a group, choose one sound and gesture to represent your element in a final class performance.
  5. Design a symbol to represent your sound and movement. Draw your symbol on a sheet of paper so that it is large enough to be seen from across the room. Repeat this 5-10 more times on new sheets of paper so that you have multiple copies of your symbol.

Part 2

  1. Return as a class and combine all of the symbols from each group.
  2. Composition: have a class volunteer gather and arrange the symbols into an oversized chart or scoresheet for the whole class to follow. The symbols could be laid out on the floor or stuck up to a wall or board with tape or blu-tac. The volunteer can choose how they want to lay out the chart and choose how may times they use each group's symbol.
  3. Performance: pick a class conductor to use the score chart to direct each group to make their sounds and gestures. The conductor can change the tempo or speed of the performance and decide the volume of the performance and each element.
  4. Experiment: create different scoresheets in groups and compare performances. You might link scores to specific times of the day, certain events, or even a feeling. Experiment with different ways to arrange your score chart. Make a record of each score that is created and decide whether you'd like to record your performances or not. If not, how does that change the performance?"

Reflection

  • What was something that surprised you from this activity?
  • How would you describe each of your bridge performances? What do you think each performance might have captured or highlighted about the bridge?