PLAN8T AIR S21 “The invisible sound”

Nelo Akamatsu (JP) creates artworks across several media such as installations with electric devices, event installations, video installations, sculptures, paintings and photos. Since his sound installation titled "CHIJIKINKUTSU" won the Golden Nica prize (Grand Prix) in Digital Musics & Sound Art category of Prix Ars Electronica in 2015, His artworks have been widely recommended for exhibitions and festivals around the world.
In Japan, he had solo exhibitions at Mizuma Art Gallery, which is one of the leading galleries in the Japanese contemporary art scene.

Nelo Akamatsu 是一位跨媒体艺术家。他的艺术实践使用灵活的媒介和艺术手法，如电子装置、活动装置、视频装置、雕塑、绘画和照片。自从他的声音装置 "CHIJIKINKUTSU "在2015年获得Prix Ars Electronica数字音乐和声音艺术类别的金尼卡奖后，他的艺术作品被广泛推荐到世界各地的展览和艺术节。在日本，他曾在三潴画廊举办过个展，该画廊是日本当代艺术领域的领先画廊之一。

BAI BAI, the cat.

Bai Bai (Whitely, which means white-white in Mandarin), was born in Broadtown, Changsha in August last year and he has lived there ever since. Bai Bai is called Whitely is because one of his siblings is also a black cat, but Bai Bai has a white collar and white paws, so he takes on the name Whitely and the other one is called Hei Hei (Blacky, which means black-black in Mandarin). 

He often stays with his mother at Pyrotechnic Cafe within Broadtown. The couple who runs the cafe takes care of them. Bai Bai’s wandering mother is a cross-breed orange cat with a missing tip on her right ear. Several of Bai Bai’s siblings died shortly after birth due to weak physiques and two among the litter were adopted. Now he is the only cat left with his mother. 

They often hide under the parasol at the door of the Cafe during summer to escape the heat and sneak into sleep at night.  After discovering that these behaviors have acquiesced, they now walk into the cafe boldly for the night. Being young and vigorous, sometimes Bai Bai will take refugees elsewhere else after “argued” with his mother. 

Nevertheless, they depend on and deeply care for each other. Broadtown once encountered a “stray cat invasion” with cats and kittens pervading in every corner, the residents had to send the cats for castration, as for Bai Bai. During the days when he was gone, his mother often wandered around and searching for him until he returned. 

The above is a piece of brief information about Bai Bai. 

CAT’S EAR ｜猫耳朵
Field research sound installation

CAT’S EAR is plan to do a field research of recording the sound of cats’ living area with a tiny sound recorder and a GPS, that are attached to several stray cats in Changsha.

The sound installation, the speakers are set up simply at the exhibition space in the Museum of Waste, for the viewers to be able to concentrate on the sounds from the speakers. And additionally, the trajectory of the cats’ movements which is based on the GPS data is projected on the floor with a projector.

People usually do not care about the narrow gaps and ditches between the houses, but for cats, those are the necessary paths. The sound of sewages, people’s footsteps and conversation, other animals like mouses eating the leftover food, etc… may be heard in the recorded data. Most stray cats wander early in the morning or late at night when people are asleep, but some cats may get some food from people in the daytime. The behavior pattern of stray cats who keep a moderate coexistence with people is suitable for the fieldwork to collect the sounds of the backside of people’s life.

这个作品计划在长沙几只流浪猫身上安装微型录音机和GPS记录猫生活区域里的声音的实地研究。声音装置、扬声器只是简单地设置在博物馆的展览空间，让观众能够更加专注于扬声器发出的声音本身。此外，基于GPS数据而来的猫的运动轨迹通过投影仪投影到地板上。

人们通常不关心房屋之间的狭窄缝隙和沟渠，但对于猫来说，这些是必要的路径。下水道的声音、人的脚步声和谈话声、老鼠等其他动物吃剩的食物等……可能都可以在记录的数据中听到。 大多数流浪猫在清晨或深夜人们睡觉时四处游荡，但有些猫可能会在白天从人们那里得到一些食物。 与人保持适度共存的流浪猫的行为模式，非常适合作为田野调查对象来采集人们生活背后的声音。