Whistlegraph Workshop signup is now open!

Do you like to draw and/or make music? Do you frequently take pictures and record video with your phone? Are you interested in art history? Do you like to collaborate with others online? Are you age 13–18? If so, apply to participate in the Write a Whistlegraph Workshops by Monday, March 8, 11:59pm PT. 

The workshop is free of charge, and limited places are available. Priority access may be given to our community partners and to those with a strong interest in the program topic. We’ll let you know if we can accommodate you by Thursday, March 11!

Workshop Description

In advance of a forthcoming performance by Whistlegraph at the New Museum, Rhizome and Whistlegraph are offering free Write a Whistlegraph Workshops for students ages 13-18. These workshops offer an introduction to discussing digital artworks, the development of critical feedback skills, and insight into principles of artistic composition through the activity of whistlegraphing.

Whistlegraphs are audio-visual digital artworks performed manually by drawing and singing. Every whistlegraph starts with a blank page, eventually resulting in a poetic image through the performance of a reproducible score. By the end of the workshop, students will compose, perform, and document an original whistlegraph with the guidance of the artists who invented the form. 

Students will:

• learn the art historical context of whistlegraphs
• learn principles of interactive audiovisual composition by making whistlegraphs
• work remotely in a collaborative design environment with an artistic community
• engage in thoughtful feedback sessions with artists and peers
• have their work featured on Rhizome, a leading online platform for digital art (optional)

^{The graphic score for Butterfly Cosplayer shows each memorizable step in sequence from top left to bottom right.}

Workshop sections:

Section A: Mondays, 3pm-5pm PT / 6pm-8pm ET (March 28, April 4, April 11)
Section B: Wednesdays, 6pm-8pm PT / 9pm-11pm ET (March 30, April 6, April 13)

Deadline to sign up is March 8 at 11:59pm PT. Apply using this form. 

What/who is Whistlegraph?

Whistlegraph is a group of artists and performers consisting of Jeffrey Alan Scudder, Alex Freundlich, and Camille Klein. Together they explore and present topics in art, technology, and education via an exciting new art form called whistlegraphing. Whistlegraphs are a form of manual digital art that often look like simple drawings that are sung into existence. Their TikTok account with over 2 million followers operates as a shared sketchbook and live performance space for the Ashland, OR based group and their community.

^{Whistlegraph (Camille, Jeffrey, Alex) performing in Copenhagen on Sept. 3, 2021 📷 Katrín Helga Ólafsdóttir.}

Required Tools

• Computer with an up-to-date web browser
• Zoom, FigJam
• Webcam with microphone
• Pen and paper

Accessibility

Classes will not be recorded, but will be automatically transcribed and live captioned. We are committed to making these workshops as accessible as possible, within our ability. If you have additional accessibility needs, please let us know here or send an email to mail@whistlegraph.com.

Write a Whistlegraph Workshops for artists in the NYC community are made possible by Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation.