Sound Box - Blooming Echoes In Beijing Times Art Museum
In 2023, the Sound · Life Contemporary Art Exhibition was presented at Beijing Times Art Museum. The exhibition was structured around three thematic sections—“Initiation of Sound,” “Resonance of Sound,” and “Vibration of Sound”—bringing together 11 contemporary artists and 14 works that explore how sound functions as a cultural medium, and how intangible wavelengths may carry emotional and spiritual dimensions that extend beyond individual lived experience. Through a combination of sound art, mechanical interactive installations, light-based environments, immersive audiovisual spaces, experimental music, and moving image practices, the exhibition constructed a perceptual environment centered on listening. Visitors were invited to reconsider the relationship between self and environment through spatialized sonic structures and evolving visual experiences, engaging in an ongoing reflection on the fluidity and transformation of life.
Artist Statement
The context of art is often built upon a set of frameworks that shape how it is perceived and experienced, much like the relationship between stage and seating, gallery and walkway, platform and media. These structures also define social relations between individuals, assigning us symbolic roles, labels, and attributes through which meaning is transmitted and authority is established.
I often wonder what might happen if these rules were broken, if new forms of connection between people could be reconstructed, even in ways that are abrupt or seemingly illogical. The performer would no longer be a performer, the speaker no longer a speaker, the artist no longer an artist, and the audience no longer an audience.
Since childhood, I have been drawn to the sounds of the street. Whether singing in subway stations as a student, freestyling in alleyways with my band, or simply paying closer attention while traveling, I have always been fascinated by the spontaneous interactions that emerge in public spaces. These connections are not formed through the act of purchasing a ticket or signing up for participation, nor do they rely on compliance with predefined instructions. The audience cannot be selected, and the performer has no stage as a designated safe zone. Everything unfolds like an improvised chemical reaction in a fleeting moment.
It may be part of your daily commute, an incidental encounter, or a destination discovered through fragmented clues and word of mouth. Regardless of the path taken, these intentions give rise to a series of compelling stories. One evening after the rain, a couple stopped by the window. I placed a bench in front of it, and as we looked outside together, I began to share the stories behind the sounds they were hearing. They were simply passersby, yet in the reflection within their eyes, I saw another window—one that revealed a sense of curiosity toward the world beyond.
We sit inside square rooms, peering through square windows at the world, yet rarely question whether we are inside or outside the frame. Perhaps it does not matter. That window is merely a mirror of the self.
