Jazzigraphy

A few years ago, I read an essay which argued that among all the various art forms, dance was the one which was most similar to calligraphy.

I found the author’s arguments to be compelling – so much so that I took dance lessons for several years to improve my sense of rhythm and coordination!

Calligraphy tends to be almost exclusively presented in the form of still images, and for most people, there are few opportunities to see calligraphy being performed.

However, the brushstrokes on a page are a record of the various movements of the brush, hand, arm, body, and heart/mind (心) of the person who made them.

I have been lucky enough to watch many incredibly talented calligraphers write – I will never forget the first time I met Matsuura Hokuryū-sensei (Ryūha-sensei‘s father) and saw the dance-like movements he made as he wrote.

I have come to believe that the performance aspect of calligraphy is a quintessential but often neglected part of the charm of this art form.

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Many years ago, my brother put together a jazz-funk band and asked me to join on guitar. A recent Facebook post by the drummer of that band reminded me of how much fun it was when the members took turns to trade solos with one another.

I began to wonder if something similar might be possible with calligraphy to test out this notion of calligraphy being similar to dance.

Fortunately, my nephew – a superbly skilled percussionist and student of music composition at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance in London – was back in Derbyshire for the summer. I asked if he would be interested in a little trial collaboration, and he kindly consented to indulge his uncle.

I came up with the name “Jazzigraphy” for our experiment, and you can see the results below. (I recommend using headphones or earphones to enjoy the full range of sounds produced by my nephew’s drum.)

Jazzigraphy 1.0 – Teaser

A short “best bits” compilation from each of the three pieces (see below).

Jazzigraphy 1.1 – Pure Freeform

Just moving the brush across the page in response to the rhythms of the drum.

Jazzigraphy 1.2 – 天不天不

An avant-garde poem executed in three calligraphic styles in an avant-garde composition. The poem is simply the two characters 天　(“heaven”) and 不　(“not”) repeated over and over. I won’t attempt to explain the idea behind this poem here, but it is a token of my gratitude to Ikeda Keisen-sensei (see About Matthew) for the countless things he taught me about the Japanese and Chinese languages.

Jazzigraphy 1.3 – 王維詩

A lovely poem by Wang Wei (one of my favourite poets) in sōsho. Because of the number of characters, I wrote the poem on three boards – I think it works well as a triptych, and it will be interesting to see how it looks when it has been framed.

Thanks for reading and watching!

– Matthew (真秀, Mashū)