'Transparent Imagery of Sounds'
WANG FUJUI Solo Exhibition
‘透明響像’ 王福瑞 個展
2016.10.15－2016.11.20
WANG FUJUI Solo Exhibition
‘透明響像’ 王福瑞 個展
2016.10.15－2016.11.20
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The contour lines of iridescent clouds always leave reasonable time for us to observe them before they completely change, and observing sounds bears comparison with observing the fast-changing clouds scudding across the sky.
—Michel Chion In retrospect, Fujui Wang managed to present Electromagnetic Soundscape and Perceived Soundscape, two of his breathtaking sound artworks in his 2012 solo exhibition ‘Quiet/Noise’, through which he investigated the rheological relationships between sounds and spaces in contemporary urban life, a state of inscrutable existence. Devoting himself to sound art for over two decades, Wang elaborately stages his 2016 solo exhibition ‘Transparent Imagery of Sounds’ at the Project Fulfill Art Space. He noticed that, as sound art effloresces, part of sound artworks have set greater store by their own visual elements, and the effect of audio-creativity therein has been considerably diluted. Previously, the concept of “audio-visual” indicated sounds as an ancillary element to images; that is, using the former to dub the latter. The connotations of this concept that Wang applies to this exhibition contrarily refers to the auditory sense in a visual environment and the novel experience created by the interplay of visual and auditory senses. Complex images can be simplified into recognizable and meaningful ones through our eyes, while sounds carry well over the air and echo in the space, diffusing from the images in the exhibits. Generally speaking, sounds are more discernible yet less recognizable than images. Our auditory and visual senses are separated and the connections between sounds and the parameters of its environment (e.g. temperature, humidity) are severed when we exclude all possible visual elements, if not to achieve it by closing our eyes. As the chef-d’oeuvre of this exhibition, Transparent Silence consists of a transparent vinyl record with spiral groove etched into its surface. The stylus cartridge of the record player travels along the groove from the outside in, setting out on a seemingly silent and tranquil journey of sounds. The coating of the biding dust and the scratches left by frequent use add randomness and uncertainty to the visitors’ experience of this artwork. Sound Canvas belongs to another series of Wang’s oeuvre. It takes the form of a blank canvas, features the correlations between visual focus and sound transmission, and addresses the question as to how we hear sounds from images. This work consists of a number of independent sounding bodies arranged in a matrix. Each sounding body is a loudspeaker with a diaphragm that vibrates to create sound waves in the air. The sounds are vividly visualized by different timbers and volumes, resembling flickering lights on a plane that shine with iridescent colors and produce a chiaroscuro-like effect. These light spots converge and diverge on the canvas, echoing one another with a rhythmic vitality. Standing in front of the blank canvas, the visitors will be immersed in the flow of sounds without relying on their vision. We can quickly simplify the spatial complexity into simple geometric forms that are easily recognizable. By way of comparison, the forms of sounds are much vaguer than those of spaces. We may depict a clearer sound space with simplified, spotted sounds. The work Sonic Space therefore contains several spotted sounding bodies along different lines in the venue, creating a dynamic sound space with the vibrating sound waves. Wireless Imagination counts as a highly distinctive work in this exhibition. Applying the principle of radio transmission, this work constantly emits invisible infrared light beams in an empty space and treats them as the carrier waves. On a more specific basis, different sounds are carried by these invisible light beams, and the visitors need to wear the earphones equipped with a radio receiver, so as to hear the stereo sound constituted by these light beams. This exhibition expects the visitors to perceive the sounds not so much by vision as by hearing, thereby transcending the rigid confines of visual perception. The sounds we hear are consecutive impressions. The fluctuation of our senses are relative in terms of time and space, which is why our senses are constantly changing. By conscious listening, the listeners may not only evoke their memories and sentiments through corporeal experiences and reflexes, but also position the sounds and the general sound background. The ‘transparent imagery of sounds’ ergo arises from the continuous fusion of these sounds on the plane and in the exhibition space. 雲彩的輪廓成形會在完全改變面貌之前為我們留下觀察的時間，而觀察聲音就好比觀察迅速飛過並瞬息萬變的雲。 ——米歇爾·希翁 (Michel Chion) 當聲音藝術愈來愈蓬勃發展，也感到部分聲音藝術的創作愈來愈重視本身的視覺元素，似乎其中聽覺的創意漸漸被消弱。過去「視聽」的概念，聲音常為影像的附加元素，聲音為影像配音或配樂，目前所討論的「聽視」，是聽覺在一個視覺環境的感知，知覺與聽覺的相互作用，二者的結合帶給我們不同的體驗。 視覺中眼睛能透過觀察，將複雜圖像縮減整理成具意識且有意義的形像，聲音透過空氣在空間中迴盪穿梭，從作品畫面的形像中散射出來，聲音比形像更敏感但具體辨識卻也較為模糊，當我們將視覺元素縮減至零，但並非閉眼般全無視覺，知覺便將聽覺與視覺相隔開來，斷開聲音與其存在空間中的相互聯繫，或隔離空間中空氣的溫度、濕度、迴響等。 透過聆聽來意識在透明空白的視覺形象與空間中的聲音包覆，不侷限視覺描述內容的框架，聲音的聆聽是連續性的印象，時間相對應空間的知覺波動，知覺的感知不斷變化，有意識的聆聽無疑是喚醒形像感知中，聽者身體聆聽的經驗與反射喚醒記憶或整體性的感知與情感，聲音形體的定位與整體的聲音背景，而這些聲音在平面與空間的不斷地交融，建構出一個感知的「透明響像」。 |