The Art of Skatch: Look and Listen

An example of Skatchart (from the BayImproviser event page for the gallery opening)

Next month the Sherman Street Studios will present The Art of Skatch. This will be a gallery show celebrating the tenth anniversary of Skatch, the term that encompasses the invented instruments of Tom Nunn. Those instruments include Skatchboxes and Skatchwheels, but the gallery exhibit will focus on Skatchart. As Nunn put it:

A Skatchart is a kind of “painting,” using objects instead of paint to create visual images and, as such, can be hung on a wall or played on a specially designed table that holds the instrument at an angle, like the Skatchplate. Each Skatchart visually reflects, in some way, its title.

At 8 p.m. on the evening of the gallery show opening, Nunn will pull the Skatchart off the walls to give a performance. The performers will be the T.D. Skatchit duo of Nunn and David Michalak; and, on this occasion, they will be joined by saxophonist Bruce Ackley and dancer Christina Braun. The opening will include refreshments, and the show will run through the month of February. The exhibition will also include screenings of a new documentary film, Skatch Dance.

The Sherman Street Studios are located in SoMa at 16 Sherman Street, between Folsom Street and Harrison Street. Sherman Street itself is halfway between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. The gallery opening will begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday, February 8. There will be no charge for admission.