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2019
QUESTION PROJECT
REAL or IMAGINED?
WITHOUT COMPOSING
YUNG-TA CHANG
2019/12/20 - 2020/02/27
REAL or IMAGINED?
Are the ubiquitous cosmic rays merely a remnant of supernovas, an energy from the cosmos, or is it a real part of our imagination: chi, collective subconscious or the supernatural?
WITHOUT COMPOSING
Without Composing_ n°1 comprises numerous small, identical units (modules made of Geiger counters and buzzers), which are connected with one another at an equal distance, forming a module matrix. A Geiger counter is basically used to detect and collect transient radioactive particles. These particles are fleeting, and radiate in an unpredictable way in the universe. So, when the particles go through the Geiger counters, they trigger the buzzers, sounding the modules and creating a network of sounds. Meanwhile, the work also converts such an invisible cosmic element into something perceivable to the human senses.
Without Composing_n°2 is an installation equipped with minicomputers. When it plays Bach’s Concerto in D Minor, – BWV974, it also operates a Markov chain algorithm, which randomly switches every note of the music in a non-mnemonic manner. In this way, the work invites the audience to experience a fresh piece of music that is algorithmically re-composed.
ARTIST
YUNG-TA CHANG
Yung-Ta Chang was born in Taiwan in 1981. His oeuvre encompasses multiple art forms ranging from audiovisual and experimental sound to installation and live performance. Apart from collaborating with artists from the fields of dance and music in recent years, he has also been invited to joint exhibitions and art festivals in Europe, Asia, and America. His presence in prestigious exhibitions home and abroad include ‘The South: An Art of Asking and Listening’ (Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, 2017), ‘An Alternative Travelogue’ (National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, 2016), and ‘Urban Flashes’ (sound/LED installation, Leap Art Space, Berlin, Germany, 2012).
EVENT
Radiation Walk
2019.12.28-29 l Geiger Counter X Yung-Ta Chang l The artist guided the participants on a journey of sound with a Geiger counter in their hands. They roamed several places in Taipei City, including Xiamen Street, the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the residential areas of Xinyi Commercial District, and the observation deck on the 89th floor of TAIPEI 101. The Geiger counters detected the radioactive particles in these locations and emitted sounds of different frequencies. The soundscapes of Taipei City ergo unfolded and were left to the participants’ wild imagination!
Artist Talk: Digitality, Impermanence, Computation, And Non-metaphysical Infinity
2020.02.22 l Jau-Lan Guo X Yung-Ta Chang l Professor Jau-Lan Guo, as the discussant, employed the concept of “infinity” to analyze the exhibition featuring “Geiger counter” as the creative medium. She related Chang’s works to those by Giotto, Poussin, and Monet, so as to introduce the imagination and exploration of “infinity” in different times. By means of the discussion, Prof. Guo not only revealed the artist’s collation of his own artistic practice, but also delved into the kernel of his creative philosophy, thereby concluding that the artist offered the viewers a riotous profusion of audio and visual experiences via his performative narratives in response to varying spatial scale.
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