University of Leeds

new work

http://fireant.itaiwan.net/gettext.php

Different types of artworks and artists.

1. art is for aesthetics

2. art leading research: thinking how to develop technology to create art

3. research helps art: thinking how to apply existing technology to art.

2 and 3 are different on the developers but the result is similar.

4. art for claim:claim what is art; Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol redefined the art.

5. art for study: For example, Impressionism studied light with their paintings.

6. Art for politics and social movement.

7. art=research: Art is the research. There are two conversion. The first is to build the connection between art and the subject and the second is the relation between artwork and the subject. After the conversion, we need a conclusion to contain the two conversion. The conclusion should be an artwork. In other words, the final artworks is composed of individual artworks; but the final work is not merely the sum of the individual artworks. The final artwork has its unique traits. Every “individual work” is the final work but they are not equivalent. I created different cities’ landscape images and every image is urban landscape image but they do not equal to the final artwork. The final artwork should be conceptual and intangible.

I used the street routes and house to link Wi-Fi access points to houses. House and Routes should be the main keys in the final artworks.

Stanza’s “Emergent City” (http://www.stanza.co.uk/emergentcity/?page_id=6) think “can we consider data (CCTV, traffic, weather, people movement) as a medium for artistic practice?” and applied visual or acoustic ways of representing the data. My project seems similar to his but we have a clear boundary.

(1)He focused the representation of cities but I aimed to explore the relationship behind and in the objects.

(2)He concerns with the data but I emphasize the concept.

(3)He applied the advance technology to create art; I created art to explore the the effect of technology on our society.

Plan for 2010 performance and exhibition (The song of London)

1. 每天走不同的街道 walking in the streets

2.利用手機錄下街景與街道聲音 recording street scenes and noise via mobile phone

3.利用電腦紀錄經過的無線網路 recording Wi-Fi information along the streets

4.將無線轉成影像跟聲音 converting Wi-Fi information to music and film

5.混合街景以及無線網路的影像聲音 combining the audio and video by phone and by Wi-Fi

6.每天的記錄成為音樂中的一節 one day constitutes on one section

7.混合起來成為倫敦曲 the result will become the song of London

8.可能可以搭配拍照紀實 potential film and photograph documentary

9.此計畫不一定會實現 this plan may not be implemented.

When we walk in the city, we don’t only see the street view but also hear the sound from cars, pedestrians, broadcast in the underground, and the river beating the bankside. Because we usually daily routines, we may hear the same or similar sound every day. The sounds compose our personal theme songs. We share some common sounds and the they become our collective memory; at the same time, every song is distinctive and represents our life. Wi-Fi networks are popular in our cities and they are the silent sounds in our environments. I record the Wi-Fi access points I passed and transformed their identifier codes to notes. Because the black and white keys of piano are similar to the zero/one in digital world, I chose piano as the instrument to play the notes. My Wi-Fi songs are both contemporary and classical music to make sounds for the silent but salient urban infrastructures.

1. Why do you make art?

Before answering this question, we need to answer another question first, what is art? Actually, I would not like to answer this question; however, I want to define it. Art is the weapon to break the wall of traditional and existing concepts and thought. Art can be new born anytime as it can be the old traditions. Many artists applied their art to explore the unprecedented world no matter how crazy world they created. Medieval European artists described the unbelievable far east and Chinese artists imagined the minorities living in the wonderland. Cubists transform our familiar figures and street views to strange compositions. John Cage told us the music maybe impossible to be heard.

My idea is not easily understood or easily misunderstood. I wanted to make the invisible Wi-Fi networks visible as the street views. This is simple idea but it is a complicated work. If anyone says this project is easy and short duration, I think I maybe successful to create artwork beyond thy can imagine. If anyone thinks this is complicated, I must say thanks to them because they spent time to understand what I did.

What am I doing?

I am doing something special but most think it is ordinary. Why i make art because art makes me have the power to challenge the common sense in my way.