Sound Art in China

• Introduction

China does not lack a long sound art tradition. The ancient Chinese made a connection between tuning and the social order that was tighter and more direct than the ancient Greeks or Jacques Attali did, to the point where each official history of the successive Chinese dynasties has a separate chapter on the tuning system, documenting how the court managed to control the tuning of the period. The Chinese interest in sound has never been in the sounds themselves or acoustics, but in their correlations, references, and the interplay of phenomena. Sound, music, and tuning have been correlated to cosmology, astronomy, astrology, philosophy, medicine, and so forth.

“When the daily sonic environment in China is made up of random noises lacking a coding system, and individuals can create public noise without sensitivity to the surroundings, how can we expect sound art produced there to be an easy cultural translation of “sound art” as practiced and understood elsewhere? How likely is it to fit into Western-style art spaces squarely, neatly, and without any awkwardness?”

• Conclusion

Noise is power!

• Artworks/Artists

Echo Wall at Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China

A few steps north of the Circular Mound Altar is the Echo Wall. This oval-shaped encasement around the Imperial Vault of Heaven is named because of its amazing acoustical design. Two people standing at either side of its 633 foot circumference can conduct a normal conversation thanks to the wall’s sound transmission abilities. The wall also has Three Echo Stones. Say something on the first one to hear one echo. The second and third stones produce the corresponding number of echoes.

To be the most effective, a couple of conditions must exist:

First, the courtyard cannot be too noisy.

Second, both people must face north.

it is better to stand by the wall at the back of the two side chambers. The entrance of the courtyard prevents the voices from being heard by others.

The Bianzhong of Marquis Yi of Zeng, is the name given to an ancient musical instrument made of bells unearthed in 1978 in the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng in Leigudun Community (擂鼓墩社区), Nanjiao Subdistrict (南郊街道), Zengdu District, Suizhou (then ‘Sui County’), Hubei Province, China. The bianzhong were made in 433 B.C.

The bianzhong are hung on two sets of wooden racks. One rack is 7.48 metres (24.5 ft) long and 2.65 metres (8 ft 8 in) wide. The other rack is 3.35 metres (11.0 ft) long and 2.73 metres (8 ft 11 in) wide. The two racks are perpendicular to each other. 

The instrument contains a total of 64 bianzhong, which are hung at three levels and are divided into eight groups. There are 19 bells in three groups at the top level. 33 bells are in three groups in the middle level. There are 12 bells in two groups at the bottom level. It would be a remarkable piece of sound art if exhibited today in an art gallery, not only because of the visual and sculptural impact, the craftsmanship, the metal-lurgic techniques involved, but also the science of tuning behind it – the bells are tuned to a twelve tone scale, not well-tempered, but based on a cycle of fifth theory. 

The Buddha Machine (2005) by electronica duo FM3  is a rare success. It uses cheap mass-produced small Buddhist prayer machines, replacing the chanting with FM3’s own electronic ambient clips. The success results not only from its concept, but also their worldwide marketing techniques. The Baddha Machine can likewise be seen as a tongue-in-cheek look at mass production culture and the superficial religiousness rampant in China now. And it looked like a Chinese music box as well.

A romantic sound artist–Samson Young

https://www.thismusicisfalse.com

He is a quite romantic artist from my point of view among all the other artists which achieved the aim on: noise is power.

Sonata for smoke

Video with stereo sound, 15 minutes 49 seconds, pastel on repurposed printed matter, pastel on acrylic, pastel on air-dry clay. The work was made possible through a residency organized by Kayo Tokuda (TOMORROW), and Ryosoku-In in Kenninji Temple, Kyoto; further research was provided by Shunya Hashizume, Akane Takahashi (TOMORROW). It combined elements through the nature with delicate piano light music in a comparative way.

Memorizing the Tristan Chord (Institute of Fictional Ethnomusicology)

Samson Young always gets cool and novel ideas owing to his experiments of mix medias and he also draw voices in sketchbooks which let me think of what I can do in my next project. He builds up sound in a painting way but does not rely on pictures.