Last Friday on Dec. 4, I had the opening of my first solo exhibition, A Travel Log: From Fwarrheu to Hejning, at the daadgalerie in Berlin. The show included four sound installations, which are based on the same theme of my recent compositions: the imaginary place called Hasla. The show will run until Jan. 16, 2010.
Below are some pictures and short notes of each installation. (all the pictures are taken by Kai Bienert unless stated otherwise.)
Mnemon
one-channel video and two-channel audio installation
with a wooden board (2009)
(photographed by Sung-Eun Kim)
On the TV screen, a teller (or the traveler himself) continues to name the cities in Hasla, and a wooden board on the desk shows the trace of the traveler who struggled not to forget those names by writing them on it again and again. We can no longer know what these cities are called, and are only left with the sounds of the scribbling on the plate.
Memory Tub
(in collaboration with Sung-Eun Kim)
Five-channel audio installation with a small tub (2009)
"I don't remember any of it."
"You were there, though, weren't you?"
"Yes, but things are getting blurred, you know. it's no wonder, really. I don't remember much of what happened yesterday anyway."
"But you said you were there. Is that all you now remember? That you once existed in that place?"
"That is the thing. I don't remember it, but somehow, my body knows it—that I was there. I can feel it, you know. It really is a strange feeling. It's kind of a deja vu—you don't remember having been there, having seen or experienced it, but somehow, you just know that it is part of your past. But it is strange because, though it is part of your past, it is not part of you. I know that this is not helping me much to remember it as I think you said so the other day, but I can't help it just as I can't help but to know my having being there even though I don't remember it. For they are the same. They feel same to me: they both happen immediately, so much so that I am appalled every time it does. Then comes the sense of coldness as if somebody put a knife on my tongue."
Souvenirs for Your Itineraries
60-channel sound installation with piezo discs (2009)
These are the sounds that the traveler has collected while exploring deep into Hasla. They are archaic, showing the vestige of either some dialects spoken only in certain parts of the region or the sounds you may experience while crossing there. Listen closely and you will hear stories of how places in Halsa came into being. Grab one or two and bring them close to your ears! They are for your itineraries to Hasla.
Sound Screen: Hejning
(in Collaboration with Sung-Eun Kim)
12-channel sound installation (2009)
Sit back and enjoy this 50-minute soundscape piece, which will take you to Hejning, a city in Hasla. While this is not a documentary, it might as well be viewed in that way. Draw whatever comes to you on these screens where there is nothing to see. Sounds will guide you to Hejning.
A quite good number of people showed up at the opening although it was a bit too loud to talk at the gallery. I will soon upload more pictures, video and sound files for the installations soon.
-(update) I have created a new menu called “Installations”.
