Polyphonic Realities

Zhao Suikang 1998

Material: computer, strings, projection and integrated with web site

When Bill Moyers asked an Italian historian why Renaissance music feels sad, the experts smile gently: it is not easy to live in the sense of freedom, he said, you think about what happened during the Medieval period, and then the glorious aspect of physical matter of the Renaissance time. It was the feeling of lost made Renaissance music haunted. Both question and answer are quite off the point in the particularly context of the conversation, but I thought it was inspiration dialogue that went beyond historical accuracy and music theory of the time.

If we take music form from the period of Renaissance to Classical in the history Western of the music, We easily see how the multi-linear lines, through Baroque, constructed down to a hierarchical arrangement of triads based on the natural harmonics or overtone of a note, a triangular and an exclusive circle that carry on from beginning to the end in which tonality lies in the center of the fluid structure. It was the gold age in the history of western music. The triads of tonic, mediant, and dominant; major and minor scale constructed a form that perfect balance is established upon the modulation between balance and unbalance, feeling going the goal and coming back to home. It is a comfortable moving position in symmetry which seems very much close to, not only in terms tonality of human ears, but also similar to the gravity of human physical nature and social behave. Different to Classical music, mulit-polyphonic Renaissance music shows massive linear layers going its own destination. The independent line are overlapped by contrapuntal harmonic resonance not triads based tonality. The heavily chromatic passage is going through along the time, in which nothing is in dominant. It give us the feeling that no beginning and end.

Today, there is the historical retrogression of the past, not only in the contemporary music also in social environment. The subject of being lost like Renascence time, yet in completed different context. The traditional triangular hierarchical realities are forced to overlapped against each other. Present cultural phynimena like transparent web eteched cultural fragmentations interwovn into one of anothers. World moving without sense of the gravity and direction. Quantity of overlapped hierarchical centers make center invisible. It is interesting this formation are very similar the to today's web technology, however, I personally don't believe the web technology is the center element to determine the recent social change. The graduation of the social change have came long way before the innovation of the new technology. Web technology is one of element very much needed, or may be consider one of the best representation as destructive force to the traditional social structure. I often think the cleanness of technology that will play important roles in human society only once our vulnerable humanity involved. New technology is not the presentation of today's reality but only the result of present reality. For this case the most exciting thing may not be the creation of the technology but the reflective effects through our human's intervene, that bring up to the moment we hardly can define what is our creation, what is the result of our own creation, and what is effect of all these combinations.

As my other works, I am not interested in the representation of today's world. I often surprised by seeing art form and its reference to relevant social structure. I have worked on the form of parallel multi linear structure, it happen to be the mixed different cultural experience due to my living condition. I am fascinated by today's reality, in which layers of cultural linearity become transparent and overlap one another. By delineating the form of juxtaposition of today's reality, it lead to the question of traditional notion of the individuality, the ontological self, and the justification of our physical and psychological being, as well as our attachment and detachment. I see our naked human self, which have been subjected intellectually yet ever until today, being physically singled out and suspended within this transparent web-world."

Once again, the world comes to the place where quantity of massive freedom demolish the traditional high light on the subject of freedom. We are bouncing in the infinite space there is no ground and gravity can be relayed upon, there is no shade and no high light either just transparency. We are lost as we, and force to deal with I as Zen Buddhist facing a blank wall. This is quite hard reality to live in, but is exciting, isn't it?


Credit:

The project is made possible by New York States Council on the Arts, Individual Artist Media Production Award, New York Foundation for the Arts, Film and Video Arts, The Pollock-krasner Foundation

Also supported by following individuals:

Lisa Brennan , Peter Peng, technical support; Xiao Lun Alex Chao, Java script writer; Kevin Soderlund, animation of glob images, Fan Zhongming, the president of silkroad internet and Zhongming Syber Museum http://www.silkroad.ne.jp/musem.htm Fan Zhong Ming, as well as the curator of the exhibition Patricia Karetzky and all the staffs of the museum at Lerman College.