Diana Burgoyne: Sound Drawing

Diana Burgoyne’s current work has evolved from her performance art practice. She continues to use handmade electronics and performance elements, but with her “sound drawings”, she now directly involves the exhibit visitor.

For this exhibition, she built drawing surfaces using paper, sensor circuits, and copper wire. These framed, blank papers are installed directly onto the gallery walls, and visitors are invited to “draw” on them using graphite pencils. Depending on the drawing action, an electronic circuit imbedded in the paper can be completed. The quality of the
drawings directly controls the sound frequency. The ongoing manipulation of the artwork (additional drawing and erasure) affects the nature of the sound. One can compose the soundscape in the Gallery, as one composes the drawing.

Visitors may meet the artist during the exhibit, as she plans to use the TechLab as an artist’s studio one day a week to continue the research and development of her latest series of drawings. For this new project, Burgoyne will be working with a simple electronic camera (a light detector) and a monitor (a light presenter). Using these tools, she will be exploring the possibilities of drawing with light.

About the Artist

Diana Burgoyne is a Vancouver-based artist, whose artworks and performances have been presented in galleries and arts festivals across North America and in Europe including Germany, Holland, France, and Estonia. She has been an artist in residence at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, the Mattress Factory in New York, and Science World in Vancouver. She is currently a PhD candidate in Interactive Arts at Simon Fraser University.

Image credit: Visitor interacting with Diana Burgoyne's Sound Drawing at Surrey Art Gallery.