We see that Klee has translated audible input into visual output in these examples, but what are the parameters along which he does so? The mind is subject to thinking in patterns which makes it plausible that a certain type of audio input consistently yields the same or similar visual output. To understand this transferral process more precisely, I focused specifically on Bach’s Fugue in E minor and the corresponding painting Cooling in the Garden of the Torrid Zone. Klee had spoken of his art as “andacht zum kleinen,” meaning devotion to small things, so I respectively broke down the two works into their constituent structures and elements, and then established the cause and effect relationship between the music and the visual components.

I started with the music. First, I listened to the fugue, played on both organ and piano, in different tempos. I listened a few times, once sitting and looking out, once with my eyes closed, twice while looking at solid color colored papers, and the last three times while following the sheet music. In between these listens I drew while listening to the fugue, using a single gel ink color and solid background. I was anticipating to relate structures in the fugue with visual structures, but the fast paced tempo made it impossible for me to do so in real time while the piece was playing. I noticed that instead, I focused on correlating my stroke intensity (strength) and stroke speed with progression peaks. Listening to the piece and drawing at the same time also blocked any intentions to illustrate.