These pages from his book Changes: Notes on Choreography by Merce Cunningham are fantastic visual thinking explorations of dance space. These wonderful pages of red topographic movement and complimentary weaving lines of type notes are great explorations of the notebook spread themselves.
They are very similar in style to the spreads from Kurt Schwitters & Theo Van Doesburg in 1920 - 30's De Stijl or even Dada from Picabia. Very abstract compositions with varying line qualities and shapes.
Merce Cunningham is one of the most influential and innovative choreographers of the twentieth century. His works, such as Summerspace (1958), are in the repertoire of internationally celebrated companies, including the New York City Ballet, the Paris Opéra, Zurich Ballet, and Rambert Dance Company, among others. Along with John Cage, Cunningham collaborated with other contemporaries, including Jaspar Johns, Andy Warhol, David Tudor, Frank Stella and Robert Rauschenberg.
Cunningham is not interested in narrative and character development; his choreography investigates the formal elements of dance. Cunningham and Cage shared the belief that movement and music are equal. Accordingly, they created the choreography and music separately in their collaborations.
Merce Cunningham Info Source: http://www.artsalive.ca/en/dan/meet/bios/artistDetail.asp?artistID=165
Image Source: Cunningham, Merce and Frances Starr, ed. Changes: Notes on Choreography. New York: Something Else Press, 1968 featured in Creative Reviews - March 08 - p42.
Visual Choreography Notes
Illustrative 07 Berlin - Blu Multidirectional comic
Held in Berlin from 31 August to 16 September 2007, Illustrative showcases more than 200 works of established European illustrators. The exhibition focuses on so called free, uncommissioned, daring and ambitious works of the new generation in the illustrative field. This is an excellant multi-directional comic by Blu, more multidirectional comics featured in Pictures and Words: New Comic Art and Narrative Illustration. It has the same multidrectional, non-linear reading that maps entail. It creates multi-narratives that could be continued with other collaborators/designers with other point of views similiar to PAR, Participatory Action Research[i]. This involves ‘participants in collaborative research activity with researchers in constructing their own perspectives of their world with a view to social improvement’ (Dowmunt, Dunford & Hemert, 2007, p 181). [i] [i] This is very similar to PD (Participatory Design) which is ‘an approach to systems design that emerged from Scandinavia in the early 1070’s […] active participation of workers in the design process’ to enhance skills/knowledge (Crabtree, 2005, p132). Illustrative Berlin - blu - multi directional comic - Centaur Publication. (2008). Creative Review nov 07 p52 http://www.designtaxi.com/news.jsp?id=10301&monthview=1&month=7&year=2007 Dowmunt, Tony, Dunford, Mark & Hemert, Nicole van. Ed. (2007). Inclusion Through Media. London: Goldsmiths Crabtree, Andy. (2005). Designing Collaborative Systems: A Practical Guide to Ethnography (Computer Supported Cooperative Work). Springer-Verlag, London Limited