Ira Marcks Interview

Ira Marcks is involved in many artistic projects, but this interview focuses on his Illustrative Score, a scrolling piece of art set to music. As he told me, it’s something like a “45 minute music video” and a “graphic novel told in a single, 50 foot long panel.” Ira answered my questions by email in March and April 2010 (I’m Dan Copulsky).

How did you get the idea to do an Illustrative Score?

The original idea was Jake Lodwick’s. He had commissioned an album from The Few Moments for his record label, Normative (no longer active). Somewhere along the way he had the idea to have me do “one long drawing” to accompany the music. The term Illustrative Score came about from the process. I had the lyrics and the finished album in my hands before I did anything. The story progresses in a mythical way that made me think of the different ways ancient cultures preserved their stories through sequential wall paintings. This combined with the cropping effect of the screen made me think of it as a visual score to the music. Put simply, it’s kind of like Mario Paint Composer.

Could you describe the process of putting this together a bit?

I used Photoshop to build a gridded template where 6.5 inches was equal to 30 seconds of music. I had to be very careful to abide by these rules since it was going to be over 50 feet of illustration. All the little cheats would add up and the images and music wouldn’t sync up. I did a simple sketch of each song using loose geometric shapes to mark the feel and density of the music. Then I traced over that with the content I felt suited the lyrics. Next I inked and water colored the parts in 6.5 inch segments making sure they would lock together when I scanned them. After all of it was digitalized I used After Effects to bump the images up against each other like a slow moving train. Jake helped me out with the render settings and optimizing it for the web.

I was curious what you could say about the relationship of your Illustrative Score to what’s more typically called comics. In what ways are they similar for you? How do you see them working differently?

The only important difference between comics and this Illustrative Score is the automation of the visual. Genres and categorization only serve to organize items, not to accurately describe the experience of the art. I would say the differences between the “score” and a comic is the same as the difference between reading a book and having it read out loud to you.

Would you consider making the art from the score available in a format where the person viewing it has control over the speed they see the images at?

As a whole work, it wasn’t designed to be looked at in any other format than the one it was presented in. As a study of the process or in the context of a lecture on the project, I would display the raw image. If only for the opportunity to see what is lost in the digitization of hand-rendered art. For those people with minimal interest in the work, I would rather they didn’t have a second option than that of the published video.

What do you think the role of experimentation in art is? Is it more about finding the right form for one particular project or more about creating new ways of expressing things that others can use and adapt?

The things I find inspiring are often designed around a very specific set of guidelines. I am inspired by process and the concepts that generates it. I think many artists are. But experimentation is a difficult thing for a patron of the arts to invest in. It can overshadow the resulting art. I’m surprised at the overwhelmingly positive response this Illustrative Score has generated. I suppose, in this case, the art prevailed. The experimentation it was born from can now be addressed as a method worthy of a term. In my vocabulary at least. Early in my career, I thought the ultimate challenge was to indulge in experimentation with minimal regard for an audience. Now, I’m finding the biggest challenge is to create something new, but still accessible and worthy of a viewer. The relationship of art and craft is something I reassess from project to project.

What are you working on now?

I’m preparing a print collection of my comic strip, WITCH KNOTS, collaborating on an experimental radio drama and illustrating a wordless sci-fi children’s book. I’m also in a band and teach art full-time.

Illustrative Score – witchknots.com/illustrativescore
Ira Marck’s Website – iramarcks.com