Solo exhibition by Ming Yuan

10.2022-12.2022
Plate Space, Beijing
Dongsishitiao 98, Beijing, VR China

Using metal spinning needles attached to a computer, the artist improvised a seahorse hair braid covering a homemade speaker. In this project, the performance creates the entity of sound and artwork, and at the same time is an important part of the art project.

one
The noise of two stainless steel spinning needles bumping/sliding against each other and the friction noise of mohair yarn rubbing against the needles will be recorded by ordinary microphones placed next to the artist's working hands. Meanwhile, the spinning needles are pre-soldered to a cable that connects to an Arduino controller, which translates the motion of the artist's weaving into a series of voltage-strength changes that are sent to a computer, where they are broken down into electrical signals. These signals are transformed through an artist-designed Max Msp patch that controls the content, rhythm and volume of the playing samples. The rhythms and movements of the body during weaving are thus translated into digital signals, arranged on a computer, and broadcast on a 4-channel sound system. Affected by the epidemic, this performance can only be performed at the artist's home, which is the first part of this project. It was recorded through audio and video, and finally presented in a 24-hour cycle on a display screen in the plate space.

two
What the artist improvised during the performance was a translucent coat of varying shades of green and orange with different patterns. The knitted fabric is constructed with visually similar colored yarns and different stitching techniques, implying that the viewer notices Deleuze's notions of repetition and difference, which correspond to human-controllable opportunities and human-uncontrollable (quantum-physical probability) general) opportunity. The jacket is wrapped around a rectangular acrylic box that houses four speakers. Electronic cables and media players will be hidden in the box, while speakers will be revealed through designed holes in the box. The speakers also loop the sounds collected and processed during the performance. Create a unique soundscape sound environment. The aesthetic premise of the sound samples in the installation is minimalist, futuristic, schematic, and experimental. This aesthetic requirement is to ensure that the concept of "repetition" of human and machine that the work focuses on can be conveyed. In this performance, a variety of different methods of collecting, producing, and processing sounds allow for vocal and synthetic samples, human-controlled and machine-controlled rhythms, geometric arrangements, and random collisions and balances of machines. This section can also be presented on the viewer's own electronic device, via an audio file uploaded in a tweet from the space, or to experience the sound language of the work as a whole or individually.