In 2020 and 2018, at the Fine Arts department (BEAR) of ArtEZ Academy in Arnhem – Netherlands,  I taught two-months courses on how to compose, guide or advance creative processes through notions and application of scoring and event: ‘Scoring Space’.

2nd and 3rd year undergraduate students were introduced with the recent history of scoring: how it was redefined through experimental music practice during the 1960’s and onwards, how it then bridged with conceptual art / performance art practice, and how scoring developed within contemporary art from there. The course thus actively drew on the rich tradition of experimental music, yet was by no means limited to notions of ‘musicality’ or sound. Student participation could be based on work in any medium of choice. First aim of the project was to articulate compositional ideas and approaches and set out a developmental process through scoring accordingly. Secondly, to advance through scoring the performative, spatial, or visual narrative that students might be exploring in their work.

A number of initial lectures covering principle aspects of scoring -such as process, (rule-based) system, indeterminism, open form, event, the relation between grammar and phenomenon, but also the philosophical and aesthetic considerations of score-based practice-, were illustrated with examples of recent and less recent score-based works created in different artistic contexts. Works of Max Neuhaus, George Brecht, Yoko Ono, Michael Parsons, Douglas Barrett, Michael Pisaro, Sol Le Witt, Mark So, Dominic Lash, Hanne Darboven, Tehching Hsieh, Richard Long, Ken Friedman and John Court were included.

These lectures were followed by workshops where students collaborated to realise a number of selected scores. Documentation of their efforts was then discussed and reflected upon by the group to improve interpretation and execution.

Students then continued to individually conceive, develop and realise their score-based project in an experimental work-setting and to fine-tune their personal vocabulary. The course accumulated in a group exhibition showcasing the different works.

For inquiries concerning my teaching and more detailed information, please contact.

My gratitude goes to Marie van Leeuwen, Tjoe Fang King and James Beckett for creating the possibility to teach this course.