La-tone
2025
Kinetic sound sculpture: ca. 28179 Asfour crystals, hanging structure with motor and lighting, computer and audio interface,
sound file, 22 min. 15 sec.
This work was co-commissioned by the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts & Centre Pompidou, Paris in 2025, with support from the Ministry of Culture (Taiwan), R.O.C., under the technology Art Venues Innovation Project and the Taiwan Content Plan
In the exhibition "Of Anarchy in Music: More Journeys in Sound," curated by Marcella Lista, I continue my 2023 exploration using European colonial-era sheet music as material. Building on that foundation, Jardin du Monde presents sheet music from 1850 to 1950, featuring hand-drawn covers that reveal the imperialist imagination. Inspired by European palace gardens, the work organizes sheet music in a manner reminiscent of botanical classification systems, reflecting themes of power and anthropocentrism. La-tone transforms the sheet music into MIDI files, creating a sound sculpture influenced by garden statues, mythical creatures, fountains, and 19th-century pseudoscience. Like a fountain, it continuously emits musical phrases that resonate throughout the space.
9 music sheets used in the work.
Kinetic sculpture structure and sound spatialization
Installation view