Tainan Art Museum exhibition
My audio documentary from 2018, 家庭工廠 Jiātíng Gōngchǎng, and a companion sound sculpture piece, 餘留剩磁 Remanent Trace, are currently being exhibited at Tainan Art Museum, Building 2. The group show curated by 蕭楷競 Kai Ching Hsiao is titled 永聲花—無盡的聲音風景 The Eternal Soundscape—A Myriad of Everlasting Memories.
參展藝術家 | Nigel Brown / 吳修銘 / 吳燦政 / 郭佩奇 / 莊普 / 蔡坤霖 (依筆畫順序排列)
Artists | Nigel Brown / WU Siou-Ming / WU Tsan-Cheng / KUO Pei-Chi / TSONG Pu / TSAI Kuen-Lin (names in alphabetical order)
Further information: https://www.tnam.museum/exhibition/detail/228
Curators text:
聲響的採集與收錄，可比擬為永生花的製作過程，在鮮花盛放時摘取，凋零前固色、塑型，盡可能保存貼近於自然且真實的樣貌。當人們經由聽覺感知(auditory perception perceive)與特定的情節記憶(episodic memory)產生聯覺共鳴時，便會下意識的將聲響重新模擬成相似的視覺圖像，此時生命個體便能從廣大的時光莊園中汲取養分，生長為無與倫比的「永聲花」，為特定故事毅然綻放。
聲音的傳遞與接收，在物理上本受限於空間與距離的邊界範圍之中，伴隨著聲波能量的遞減而逐漸削弱至無。自十九世紀中葉開始，適逢第一次工業革命(Industrial Revolution)末期，聲波振記器(phonautograph)的發明使人類能透過儀器繪製出聲波軌跡，並隨著改良與生產，使得聲音得以被隨身攜帶至特定場域，甚而跨時空的進行播放。當我們以視覺觀看藝術時，舉目四望便能端詳作品整體的形式、色彩與線條；然透過聽覺，則將受限於聲音的時間性，藉由訊息的強度、音調、音色與長度，進行接收、感受與思考。收錄當下的環境音或許與重現的聲音雷同，但經過錄製方式、收錄設備、播放設備與環境的不同，則可能與最初的聲響產生差異，此時聲音的客觀性是否存在？其所引發的記憶聯覺與價值又該如何定義？
「永聲花—無盡的聲音風景」邀請藝術家Nigel Brown、吳修銘、吳燦政、郭佩奇、莊普、蔡坤霖(依筆畫順序排列)依場域空間進行現地製作，將聆聽作為生活感知間的主要媒介，透過創作者與時局交會的生命經驗，使臺灣豐富的聲音地景得以成為地方認同與文化溯源的一道路徑，當觀者品味著不同時代情感記憶的同時，也能試圖定義各自心中「永聲花」的樣子。
The collection and recording of sounds can be compared to the process of making eternal flowers--picking the flowers when they are in full bloom, fixing the color and shape before withering, and preserving the most natural and authentic beauty. When synesthesia occurs through the associations of episodic memory and auditory perception, sounds that one hears will activate similar visual images at the subconscious level. If we think of life as a fertile garden, all the memories in one's expansive lifetime are like nutrients for the growth of these magnificent eternal flowers of sounds. Such synesthesia blossoms into unique life stories.
The transmission and reception of sound is physically limited by the boundaries of space and distance. When sound travels, it eventually weakens to nothing as wave energy diminishes. In the mid-nineteenth century, at the end of the first Industrial Revolution, the invention of phonautograph allowed humans to trace sound waves. Following further improvements and production of new instruments, sound can be recorded and carried to specific sites, and even played across time and space. When we look at art, we can easily and visually grasp its overall forms, colors, and lines. But through hearing, because of the time limitation of sounds, we rely on the intensity, tone, timbre, and length of the sounds for reception, perception, and thought-formation. Recording the soundscape of a specific moment might be similar to reproducing the sounds. But due to variances in recording methods, recording equipment, playback equipment, and environment, the reproduced sounds might differ from the original sounds. Does "objectivity of sound" exist? How do we define the triggered synesthesia and its value?
The Eternal Soundscape-A Myriad of Everlasting Memories invites artists Nigel Brown, Siou-Ming Wu, Tsan-Cheng Wu, Pei-Chi Kuo, Pu Tsong, Kuen-Lin Tsai (names in alphabetical order) to create on-site installations that use sounds as the main medium in perceiving life. Thanks to these artworks, Taiwan's rich soundscape becomes a pathway in tracing local identities and cultural origins. As viewers immerse in these emotional memories of different generations, they can also draw the contour of the eternal soundscape in their own minds.
