I have been thinking long and hard about the assignment of creating a 'found' instrument. As the sole wind instrument player in my group, I feel obligated (but also fortunate!) with the task of incorperating some type of aerophone into our ensemble of recycled materials.

First I struggled: What can you hit or strike? Pretty much anything. But can you incorporate air into a lot of the same materials as well? Yes!
Surely blowing on a cinderblock won't achieve a certain and unique timbre, but I needed to find something new. I could have spent hours blowing atop all sorts of bottles, cans, but doesn't everyone do that?
As of yet, I'm still pursuing the instrument(s) that will work.
The toughest part on developing notation is that our instruments are not completely finalized, and therefore I have trouble settling on which type of notation I see fit. If the instrument is suited to a particular timbre, perhaps using color to notate it would be more accurate than using a shape! I would also like to experiment with the use of vocalization while writing. Whether it is droning (ex. represented by a stagnant thin line) or perhaps in a percussive manner (Written as a syllable and then altered to show its development).

Meanwhile, I took to heart the comment about Earle Brown's investigation as to what "classical musicians can't improvise", through the use of studying the "dynamic aesthetics" of Jackson Pollack and Alexander Calder. Naturally, I saw the connections in the improvisatory style of Pollack, but I knew it could be taken a step further. I wanted to pick one of my favorite artists and exploit and certain style that could influence notation and performance.
I picked Marc Chagall. I know and acknowledge he is widely viewed as an early modernist and known for his Jewish influence, but I appreciated most his use of different mediums. He was best known for his work with paintings, naturally, but has done a huge range of works on other materials such as tapestry, stained glass and ceramics.
The use of different materials can be used as inspiration as to different timbres or instrumentation. The art itself and influence the notation. There is also typically a common thread of religion that can be used or abandoned as the piece may see fit. For example, his ceramic piece "Moses" compared to the many church stained glass pieces he completed, as well as a plethora of Jewish-influenced paintings.
I don't know exactly what role this experimentation will play on my instruments and pieces, but the connection to art, even one that is not overtly modernist or indeterminate, I feel is important regardless.