Notes on Art Criticism
ISSN 2226-2180
Article Vol. 25, No. 1, 2025

Expressive features of a music and visual project

Olena Shemiakina
Received 07.02.2025 Revised 04.06.2025 Accepted 30.06.2025 Pages 21–34 523 Views

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the expressive features of music and visual projects in contemporary academic and public art, with a focus on how visual elements influence the reception, dramaturgy, and emotional perception of music. The methodological basis of the research was a comparative analysis of three representative formats of music and visual projects, carried out using fixed video recordings and critical reviews. The analysis, which encompassed three music and visual projects – The Seasons, Piano Light Show performed by Oleksii Botvinov, and Contrapunctus 14 by J.S. Bach – demonstrated that the visual component in each format served not only an aesthetic, but also a structural function, significantly enhancing the artistic expressiveness of the music. In the concert format, specifically in The Seasons project, it was established that multichannel video projections integrated into the architecture of the multimedia New World Center concert hall created an immersive effect and spatial interaction between music and image. The visualisation resonated with the musical dramaturgy of the piece, emphasising cyclicality, dynamic transitions, and emotional accents, forming a complex audio-visual unity. In the public format of the Piano Light Show project, it was shown that video mapping in open-air settings or on stage (including projections onto the piano itself) served a communicative function, making classical music more accessible to a wider audience. The improvisational interaction between the pianist and the Video Jockey (VJ) enabled real-time visualisation of the music, fostering a high level of emotional engagement among the audience. In the studio format, particularly in the Contrapunctus 14 project, the visual sequence acted as a tool for interpreting the fugal structure of Bach’s composition. The video provided a narrative understanding of the musical material, highlighting thematic elements and symbolism, while also constructing a metaphorical space that visualised ideas of incompleteness, autobiographical reference, and the search for meaning. The results obtained have practical significance for the practice of performing arts, music education, digital directing, and cultural management, and are useful for application in the field of cultural management, for the development of multimedia programmes of academic and interdisciplinary orientation

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Keywords

concert format; screen presentation; visual component; multimedia art; intermediality

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Shemiakina, O. (2025). Expressive features of a music and visual project. Notes on Art Criticism, 25(1), 21-34. https://doi.org/10.63009/noac/1.2025.21

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