NoteWorthy
Zo Damage 2023, “NoteWorthy” (detail), copperplate print on paper
NoteWorthy
Zo Damage 2022-2023, unique artist book comprising 20 copperplate etchings on 10 loose leaves in a 28x28cm embossed solander box. State Library of Victoria “Tate Adams Memorial Residency at Baldessin Press & Studio” Fellowship project
“NoteWorthy” presents a visual history of live music culture in Melbourne, representing the complex interconnections of music performance and communities as a series of non-figurative copperplate prints on paper. The copperplate etchings were created in collaboration with Melbourne musicians Raul Sanchez (Magic Dirt/River of Snakes/Midnight Woolf), Jem Moloney (DEAD), Rhys Campbell (Future Suck), Grace Gibson (Future Suck/Blonde Revolver), Katie Scott (Howl At The Moon), Jason Fuller (Goatsound Studios/Blood Duster/The Ruiner/Burn The Hostages), Kim Volkman (X/Kim Volkman and the Whisky Priests) and Zoe Hunting (Premium Fantasy). The musicians and I used broken and discarded musical equipment – including microphone heads, guitar pick-ups, cracked cymbals and guitar strings – as dry-point tools to create a web of interweaving marks in two 80x60cm copperplates. To create the final artwork, I made prints by first printing from one of the copperplates and printing a second layer on the same sheet of paper with the second plate. The complex web of interconnected marks reflects the endurance and resilience of the music and the artists who create and perform it. Developed at Baldessin Studios in St Andrews and informed the vast resources of State Library Victoria and my professional and personal connections within the music industry, the project not only reflects the ongoing sustainability and health of live music culture in the post-pandemic era but, most importantly, contributes to related debates in music industry sectors from the position of the live music community.
Zo Damage 2023, “NoteWorthy” (front detail), copperplate print
Zo Damage 2023, “NoteWorthy” (inside detail), copperplate print
Zo Damage 2023, “NoteWorthy” (inside detail), copperplate print
Zo Damage 2023, “NoteWorthy” (inside detail), copperplate print
Zo Damage 2023, “NoteWorthy” (inside detail), copperplate print
Special thanks to the musicians for their participation and to Three Phase Rehearsal Studios in Brunswick for donating the equipment used as dry-point tools.