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Musical Typewriter 音乐打字机
Musical Typewriter 音乐打字机
2013
Installation/ Mixed media
300x400x250cm
The 2013 KAO Honorable Mention Winner
Major Project B (Musical Typewriter) follows similar principles to my earlier projects, but takes on a more sculptural direction. Whereas in past works sound emerged indirectly through movement, here I want to place sound at the centre. This shift comes from recognising how the mechanical noises of my contraptions suggested a deeper potential—prompting me to explore sound more directly as a material and as a way of engaging audiences.
In this project I plan to experiment with simple, everyday methods of making sound—sawing wood, twanging a ruler against a desk, scraping objects together, or producing deliberately unsettling noises such as fingernails on a chalkboard. These recordings will then be reinterpreted using musical instruments, for example a keyboard, to test how raw noises can be translated into structured sound. The process will be documented through recording and film.
Alongside this, I will investigate traditional Chinese instruments, which are historically grouped into eight categories based on their material: gourd, earthenware, hide, wood, stone, bronze, silk, and bamboo. Each carries its own subtle, distinctive sound quality. Through combining these materials with mechanical engineering, I hope to create new sculptural instruments that evoke the atmosphere of Chinese opera.
The project is influenced by Alexander Calder’s Circus, which blended sound, movement, and performance. Similarly, Major Project B aims to combine moving characters, mechanical sound-making, and musical performance into an experimental sculptural composition.
大型项目B延续了我之前作品的原则，但方向更偏向雕塑性。在以往的作品中，声音多是通过运动间接产生的，而在这次的项目中，我希望将声音放在核心位置。这个转变源于我意识到机械装置本身的噪音已经暗示了更深层次的潜力——这促使我想更直接地把声音作为一种材料来探索，并作为与观众互动的方式。在本项目中，我计划尝试一些日常、简单的发声方法——例如锯木头、在桌边拨动尺子、物体互相摩擦，甚至是一些令人不适的声音，比如指甲刮黑板。我会将这些声音录制下来，并尝试通过乐器（如键盘）重新诠释这些声音，测试如何将原始噪音转化为有结构的声音。这一过程也会通过录音和影像进行记录。
与此同时，我还将研究中国传统乐器。传统乐器依其材质分为八类：匏（葫芦）、土（陶）、革（皮）、木、石、金（青铜）、丝、竹，每一种材质都拥有微妙而独特的音色。通过将这些材料与机械工程相结合，我希望能创造出新的雕塑性乐器，营造出类似中国戏曲的声响氛围。
该项目受到亚历山大·考尔德（Alexander Calder）的《马戏团》的启发，他将声音、运动和表演巧妙地结合在一起。同样地，大型项目B也试图把运动的角色、机械的发声装置与音乐表演融合在一起，形成一场实验性的雕塑式合奏。