PLAN8T AIR S21 “The invisible sound”

Hui Zhang is an artist who works and lives in Shanghai. Focusing on the presence of the myths, giving everyday life back to its stories. His main creative forms involve sound, sculpture, painting and performance. His works have been exhibited at the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, Chongqing Dimensions Art Centre , New Glasgow Society and other art institutions.

张回是一位工作和生活于上海的艺术家。关注神话的当下，将每日返还到故事中。其主要创作形式涉及声音、雕塑、绘画、行为等。他的作品曾在香港视觉艺术中心，重庆十方艺术中心，New Glasgow Society等艺术机构展出。

The Chinese Zodiac Aural Clock  | 十二声肖钟
Installation

The Chinese ancients defined the twelve “時辰”（shi chen: each one contains 2 hours) in line with the habits of the Chinese Zodiac Signs and the rotation of the twelve Earthly Branches. For example, cattle eats grass and ploughs at 1-3 am, and farmers need to get up and feed them, so the time of “丑” (chou: 2/12 of the Earthly Branches) gradually takes shape; It is said that 7-9 am there will be “群龍行雨” (qun long xing yu: dragons perform rain), so the time of ”辰” (chen: 5/12 of the Earthly Branches) is filled up with the sound of rain and fog.

The concept of time is accompanied by the soundscape of daily life, and is also engraved with the law of survival. In modern ages, on the one hand, a more flexible time system is born, on the other hand, it also shows a more internalized slavery——with the continuous invention of machines, the new law of time is conveyed by sound to every second. While listening to the primitive animal nature underneath the cold mechanical shell, I attempt to build a chain track between traditional shi chen and today's electronized biological clock, and also provide the viewer with an aural clock that can be adjusted according to their own lifestyle.

The Chinese Zodiac Aural Clock consists of two concentric circles: the outer ring is circled by 12 adjustable standing antennas, with a maximum length up to 3 meters. 12 amplifiers are placed on top of them playing the sound of different electronic products. The antenna length and volume can both be changed by the viewer. The inner ring is a loop of counters, each displays a ready-made object corresponding to the outer ring audio and the Chinese Zodiac Signs. Walking through the whole field, the intensity of the sound emitted by each antenna changes with our movement; The sound wave also makes the antennas vibrate slightly, overlapping another layer of variation to the original. At the center of the circle, there will be a sequence of sound in a day or even longer gathering in one moment.

中国古人以十二生肖的出没时间以及十二地支的轮转来对应一天中的十二时辰。比如牛深夜1-3点吃草耕地，农人也需起来喂养，丑时的概念便逐渐形成；清晨7-9点据传是「群龙行雨」之时，辰即充满了雨雾之音。

 时间的观念与日常作息的声场为伴，也镌刻着生存的规律。到了现代，一方面诞生出更加变通和弹性的时制，另一方面却也表现出制度对人内化的奴役——新的时间法则伴随机器的不断发明，藉由声音传达到每时每刻。我试图聆听潜藏在冰冷机械外壳下的原始动物性，在传统的时辰与今天电子化了的生物钟之间串接起一盘声音链轨，也提供给观者一件能按其自身生活规律调整的声音时钟。

 《十二声肖钟》包含两个同心圆：外圈由竖立着的十二根可伸缩天线围成，每根最长可达三米。天线顶端的音响播放着不同电子用品工作时发出的声音，杆长与音量均可由观者改变。内圈是十二个展台的环，展示的现成品与外圈音频及生肖一一对应。穿行在整个场域中，每根天线所散发的声场强弱随我们的移动而此消彼长；声波亦使得天线微微颤动，叠加出另一层异变。处于圆心时，则可以感受到一天乃至更为长久的时序声场在一瞬间的集合。