Performance activation of Channa Horwitz's 'Sonakinatography' at LACMA

30 March 2023

In February 2023, Los Angeles County Museum of Art hosted an activation of Channa Horwitz's Sonakinatography work, currently on view in LACMA's 'Coded' exhibition.

With the series Sonakinatography (a composite phrase drawn from the works sound, motion and notation), Horwitz developed her own graphing system to create compositions that visually depict rhythm. The resulting drawings can be read as scores, which function as instructions for musical compositions, dance performances, or spatial installations.

The performance at LACMA featured a choreography by Horwitz's daughter, professional dancer and choreographer Ellen Davis, based on the artist's Sonakinatography, Composition XVI, Number III (1981) and Sonakinatography, Composition III (1996).

Video © Estate of Channa Horwitz, courtesy LACMA.