I first encountered the idea through a video about the laser microphone, a visual eavesdropping technique that uses laser light to detect sound. Although the technology itself is far from new, it opened up an unexpected direction in my exploration of sound signals. Unlike most wireless transmission methods, where signals travel through electronic circuits or invisible communication protocols beyond direct intervention, light allows the signal to occupy a tangible path through physical space. Before reaching the receiver, it may be blocked, reflected, scattered, vibrated, or altered by the medium through which it travels. These interactions can directly transform the signal that is ultimately received.

My approach differs fundamentally from the original principle of laser microphones. Conventional laser microphones project a laser beam onto a reflective surface and recover sound by measuring the minute vibrations of that surface through the reflected beam. Rather than using reflected light to sense the vibration of another object, I directly modulate electrical audio signals into the light source itself, causing its brightness to fluctuate at frequencies imperceptible to human vision. A handheld detector then retrieves these hidden signals from the light. In another approach, I deliberately introduce materials and environmental disturbances into the optical path, allowing variations in the light itself to become the source from which sound is generated.

Listen to the Light series (2022–2026) The light in this series is neither abstract nor neutral. The brightness and flickering characteristics of LED illumination are shaped by driver circuits, power conversion, and dimming technologies. Beginning with the rapid fluctuations embedded within everyday lighting—fluctuations too fast for the naked eye to perceive—I route different audio signals into all of the LED fixtures within the exhibition space and construct a handheld detector using a solar panel as its sensing element. The device converts rapid variations in light intensity into electrical fluctuations, which are then directly amplified as sound. As visitors move through an environment that appears brightly illuminated yet acoustically calm, they encounter electrical fluctuations that already exist within the light itself but normally remain beyond perception. The same beam of light therefore manifests differently depending on the receiver. For human vision, these high-frequency variations are integrated into a seemingly stable illumination; for a photosensitive sensor, they remain temporal fluctuations that can be detected and heard. The light emitted by the fixtures thus occupies an ambiguous state between the visible and the imperceptible. We see the light without recognizing its rapid fluctuations; we hear the sound carried by the light without witnessing the transmission itself. Light is commonly understood as a medium for vision—a means of illumination or image-making. This series instead asks how light can function as a carrier of signals, and how the technological conditions embedded within luminous objects shape the temporal behavior of those signals.

The Listen to the Light series includes: Listen to the Light (2022), Listen to the Light – Routine (2024), Listen to the Light – Keelung ver. (2025).

The detector does more than reveal phenomena that are difficult to perceive. It re-mediates the relationship between the body and its environment. Many physical processes are not absent; rather, they unfold beyond the temporal, spatial, or amplitude limits of human perception. Through sensing, transduction, and amplification, these processes enter perception in another form. Technology therefore functions not merely as an extension of human senses, but as the construction of an entirely new perceptual channel—one that allows us, metaphorically, to acquire another pair of ears capable of hearing the flicker of light, and with it another way of understanding the environment.

In Christina Kubisch’s artistic practice, Electrical Walks invites participants to move through the city wearing specially designed induction headphones, which translate the electromagnetic fields produced by everyday infrastructure and electronic devices into sound. Through their bodily movement, participants search for electromagnetic signals that normally remain hidden within the everyday environment. The work makes otherwise imperceptible electromagnetic activity perceptible, while also turning detection into a way of perceiving and reading the environment anew. The Listen to the Light series similarly begins with the act of detection, but the environment being explored also contains signals that I have deliberately inserted. On the one hand, I create tools that allow otherwise difficult-to-perceive signals to be found; on the other, I actively embed new signals back into the same environment. The works address not only how invisible signals can be revealed, but also how the environment can be intervened in so that existing and inserted signals coexist. What, then, does the viewer discover: fluctuations already present in the environment, or messages deliberately left there by the artist? The detector can make these signals audible, but it cannot at the same time reveal their origins or intentions.

An unexpected discovery emerged during the development of Listen to the Light – Keelung ver. While testing the work on site, I found that the detector responded not only to the LED fixtures I had designed, but also to the infrared illumination emitted by surveillance cameras. Invisible to the human eye, infrared light nevertheless functions as another carrier of signals for the detector. Electrical fluctuations produced by the camera's internal control circuitry were therefore transmitted through infrared light and rendered audible. The resulting sound resembled the continuous hovering of a helicopter—an unforeseen coincidence that resonated with the historical context of the Xinyi Air-Raid Shelter, where the work was installed.

Myst series (2023–2026) Technology changes not only the way signals become audible, but also the way we understand physical phenomena themselves. When a subtle physical process is amplified—or when its scale is transformed within human experience—even if the signal originates entirely from an actual physical event, we may no longer be able to identify its source simply from the experience it produces. The Myst series (2023–2026) emerged from this shift in scale. It began with my fascination for the signs that precede the appearance of mysterious creatures in film and television. Rather than the creature itself, it is often the vibrations, low-frequency rumblings, unfamiliar smells, or subtle disturbances in the environment that sustain the imagination of the unknown. Rather than simulating these signs with pre-recorded sounds or cinematic effects, I wanted them to arise from genuine physical processes. In Myst, airborne water droplets interfere with the transmission of a laser beam. A photoresistor receives the resulting fluctuations in light intensity, which are directly amplified into sound and finally translated into vibrations through a transducer mounted on a transparent polypropylene panel. The low-frequency sounds and vibrations experienced by the audience do not symbolize mist or an unseen presence. Instead, they are the direct consequence of the physical interaction between water droplets and light, made perceptible through transduction and amplification.

The Myst series includes: Myst (2023), Myst (Box Version) (2026).

Technology here does more than render an imperceptible signal perceptible. It allows an otherwise insignificant physical event to leave traces that far exceed its original scale. The sounds, vibrations, and mist are all physically real, and the causal relationships between them remain intact. Yet when the intensity of the perceived result no longer corresponds to the scale of its physical origin, our habitual understanding of cause and effect begins to loosen. In this gap between physical fact and sensory experience, a space emerges in which the unknown and the imaginary can coexist.

Environment as a Processor Throughout the development of these two series, I gradually came to understand the environment itself as a form of signal processor. Once a signal must physically travel through space and matter before reaching a receiver, the environment inevitably participates in its transformation. Unlike conventional sound installations, where space influences sound only after it has already been produced, in these works space acts upon the signal before sound even comes into existence. In the Listen to the Light series , light begins to diffuse, overlap, reflect, become absorbed, or be occluded from the moment it leaves the fixture. As visitors move through the space with the handheld detector, they are effectively changing the angle and distance between the solar panel and multiple light sources. The blurred boundaries where different light fields overlap transform the act of detection into a delicate process of mixing determined by the movements of the audience. In this sense, the exhibition space itself becomes a mixer without an interface. In the Myst series , this environmental processing shifts from mixing to modulation. Tiny water droplets continuously scatter and interrupt the laser beam, producing discontinuities and fluctuations in the light that reaches the photoresistor. The resulting behavior resembles the operation of a distortion effect, except that its parameters are determined not by electronic controls but by the physical properties of the environment. The size and density of the droplets, air currents, the path of the laser, and the position of the sensor all become variables shaping the transformation of the signal.

When signal processing moves from circuits or software into physical space, what changes is not only the form of the processor but also the nature of its parameters. In digital and electronic systems, gain, mix level, or distortion can usually be isolated as independent parameters and adjusted by the user. Once these processes are entrusted to space and matter, however, the parameters become interdependent physical conditions. The signal no longer simply passes through the environment; it continuously acquires new states through its interaction with it. This also marks a fundamental distinction between these works and approaches based on environmental parameter mapping. Within the logic of mapping, environmental phenomena are first sensed, converted into numerical data, and then used to control an existing sound-processing system. The relationship between environment and sound is therefore mediated through numerical translation. Here, by contrast, matter is not measured in order to control the signal. It directly participates in the physical transformation of the signal itself. Water droplets do not need to be translated into numerical values to determine the amount of distortion; their scattering and occlusion of the laser are already the distortion. Likewise, the mixing of multiple light sources is not controlled by positional data operating a virtual mixer. Instead, the diffusion and overlap of light in physical space directly determine the proportions received by the detector. In this sense, the environment is no longer merely the interface through which an effect is controlled—it becomes the effect processor itself.

What Is It Like to Hear Light? Philosopher Thomas Nagel famously argued that even if we possessed complete objective knowledge of a bat's anatomy, nervous system, and echolocation, we would still not know what it is like to be a bat. These two series led me to consider a related question: if technology equips us with a receptor we do not naturally possess, do we thereby move any closer to another way of perceiving the world?

When technology provides us with a receptor that we did not originally possess, does it also open up another possible way of perceiving the world? Through processes of conversion, we are able to hear the flickering of light and even detect infrared radiation that is invisible to the human eye. But how does a signal received by a new receptor become part of our perception? Light must still undergo sensing, transduction, and amplification before it is reorganized into sound that can be perceived by human hearing. What we experience, then, is constituted jointly by light, the instrument, and the human senses. However, our existing senses are no more transparent channels through which we receive the world. Light is converted into neural signals in the retina, just as vibrations in the air are converted into neural impulses in the cochlea. What we see and hear is always conditioned by the forms our bodies are capable of receiving and processing. The detector not only extends our sensory capacities; it also makes me aware that the world we take for granted is already a world shaped by particular bodies and receptors. With different bodies and different receptors, might the world, like the light in these works, reveal itself in different ways?

有一次無意間看到關於雷射間諜麥克風（Laser Microphone）視覺竊聽技術的影片，我發覺這項技術為我對聲音訊號的研究開拓了一條新的路徑。儘管它並不是一項新穎的技術，但不同於其他無線傳輸方式，當訊號以光作為載體在空間中傳遞時，訊號的傳輸不再只發生於難以直接介入的電路或無線通訊之中，光是直接形成了一條實際穿越物理空間的路徑。光在抵達接收端之前可能受到遮蔽、反射、震動或介質變化的影響，這些作用可能直接改變最終被接收的訊號。原本的雷射竊聽技術中，雷射麥克風通常將雷射投射至可反射光線的物體表面，再透過反射光讀取物體因聲音造成的微小振動。在我的作品中，我不以反射光去讀取另一個振動媒介，而是直接將聲音的電訊號調製進光源，使燈光以人眼無法解析的速度產生亮度變化，再由手持探測器讀取其中的訊號。另一種方式則是在光的傳輸路徑中加入物質與環境的干擾，使光的變化本身成為聲音生成的來源。

Listen to the Light series (2022–2026) 不同於自然光，LED光源的亮度與閃爍頻率往往受到驅動電路、電源轉換與調光機制影響。從日常光源中肉眼無法辨識的快速閃爍出發，我在這系列作品將不同的聲音電訊號接進展場的 LED 光源，並製作一個以太陽能板作為接收元件的探測裝置，它會將光強度的快速變化轉換為電訊號波動並直接放大為聲音。觀眾在明亮而看似寧靜的空間中移動時，能透過探測器接收到原本無法直接辨識、卻實際存在於光源中的電流波動。同一束光在人的視覺與電子感測器之中，會以不同的方式顯現，對人的視覺而言，這些高速變化可能因視覺暫留被整合為穩定的亮光，但對光敏元件而言，它們仍然保留著可以被讀取的波動。燈具中的光在此形成了介於可見與不可見之間的曖昧狀態：我們看得見光，卻未必能辨識其中快速的明暗變化；我們可以透過光聽見聲音，卻無法清楚看見傳輸的過程。光通常被視為觀看世界的媒介，一種照明或是影像，而這個系列更關注的是訊號如何透過光被攜帶，以及發光的物件背後的技術如何塑造它的波動。

The Listen to the Light series includes: Listen to the Light (2022), Listen to the Light – Routine (2024), Listen to the Light – Keelung Version (2025).

探測裝置在此不只是揭露某個原本難以察覺的內容，更重新中介了人與環境之間的關係。許多物理變化並非不存在，而是其頻率、幅度或時間尺度落在人的感官解析能力之外。透過儀器的轉導與放大，這些變化得以跨越原有的感知限制以另一種形式進入感官。技術在這裡除了感官能力的延伸，也建立了一種原本不存在於日常的感知通道，我們彷彿多了一雙能夠聽見光閃爍的耳朵，也獲得了一條重新理解環境的途徑。

在Christina Kubisch的藝術實踐中，Electrical Walks讓觀眾戴上特製的感應耳機在城市中移動，將日常基礎設施與電子設備產生的電磁場轉換為聲音，觀眾透過身體的移動尋找原本隱藏在日常環境中的電磁訊號。它同時使原本不可感的電磁活動變得可感，同時也讓探測變成是一種重新感知與閱讀環境的方法。 Listen to the Light series 同樣從探測出發，但在這個系列中，被探測的環境也包含了我刻意置入的訊號。我一方面製作工具使原本難以被察覺的訊號得以被尋找，另一方面也主動將新的訊號藏回同一個環境之中。作品除了處理如何揭露不可見的訊號，也思考如何介入環境讓既存與植入的訊號共存。觀眾所找到的究竟是環境原本存在的波動，還是作者預先留下的訊息？探測器能夠讓訊號被聽見，卻無法同時說明它的來源與意圖。

在 Listen to the Light – Keelung ver. 中，我遇到了一個意料之外的現象。現場測試時，我發現探測器除了接收到我設計的 LED 光源，也能接收到監視器所發出的紅外線。對人類而言，紅外線甚至是肉眼不可見，但對探測器而言，它同樣是一種攜帶訊號的光。監視器控制電路所產生的電流波動因此經由紅外線被轉換為聲音，聽起來像持續盤旋的直升機聲，意外地呼應了信二防空洞的歷史情境。

Myst series (2023–2026) 技術所改變的不只是訊號被聽見的方式，也可能改變我們如何理解物理現象本身。當技術進一步放大一個原本微弱的物理作用，甚至改變這個作用在人類經驗中的尺度時，即使訊號完全源自真實發生的物理過程，我們同樣可能無法完全從感受到的結果，直接辨認出它最初的來源。Myst series (2023–2026) 從這種尺度的延展出發，一開始是對影視作品中神秘生物現身之前的徵兆感興趣，比起直接呈現某個形體，他們的震動、低鳴、氣味或環境中的異常，往往更能延長對未知的想像。然而我並不希望為了效果預先製作聲音來模擬這些徵兆，這個系列是試圖透過真實發生的物理作用，使痕跡從作品的機制本身產生。作品利用空氣中的水霧干擾雷射光的傳輸，使光敏電阻接收到波動的光訊號，再將這些變化直接放大為聲音，最後透過安裝於透明浪板上的震動喇叭轉化為整個結構與空間的震動。觀眾所聽見的低鳴與感受到的震動並不是用來象徵水霧或某種未知存在的聲音，而是水霧對光造成的實際擾動，經過轉導與放大後所形成。

The Myst series includes: Myst (2023), Myst (Box Version) (2026)

此處技術所產生的不只是轉換出一個可感的訊號，它也使原本微小的現象留下遠大於自身尺度的痕跡。作品中的聲音、震動與霧氣都真實存在，它們之間也具有實際的因果關係。但當我們感受到結果的強度與其物理來源的尺度不再相稱，原先習慣用來理解原因與結果的直覺也隨之鬆動。這個真實的痕跡似乎也就在物理事實與感官經驗之間打開了一個容納未知與想像的空間。

Environment as a Processor 在這兩個系列實踐過程中，我發現環境本身也成為了一種效果器，當訊號必須實際穿越空間與物質才能抵達接收端，空間便參與了一定程度的訊號處理。不同於聲音生成之後才受到空間聲學的影響，在這些作品中空間會比聲音更先作用於訊號。在 Listen to the Light series 光從離開燈具的那一刻便開始擴散、重疊、反射、被吸收或被遮蔽，當觀眾拿著探測器在空間中移動，本質上其實是在改變太陽能板與不同光源的角度與距離，而光與光之間模糊的界線更讓探測這個行為變成一種由觀者決定的細緻mixing，空間則是一台沒有操作介面的混音器。到了 Myst series ，這種作用則從混合進到對訊號的調變，水霧中的微小水滴不斷散射與遮蔽雷射，使抵達光敏電阻的光產生斷裂與波動，形成類似破音效果器的作用，而水滴的大小與密度、空氣流動、雷射路徑以及感測器的位置，都成為決定效果的物理參數。

當訊號處理從電路或程式中被移入物理空間，便改變了參數的性質。在數位或電子系統中，增益、混合比例或失真程度通常可以被拆解為彼此相對獨立的參數，並由使用者設定。但當這些作用交由空間與物質完成時，參數則轉化為彼此牽動的物理因素，訊號不只是「穿過」環境，也是在穿過的過程中形成新的狀態。這也是這些作品和「環境參數映射」(mapping)類型創作的根本差異。在 mapping 的邏輯裡,環境通常首先被感測、轉換為數值，再由這些數值去控制另一套既存的聲音處理機制，環境與聲音之間的關係是透過數值轉譯所建立。但在這裡物質不是被讀取之後再去控制訊號，而是直接參與訊號發生變化的物理過程：水滴不需要先被轉換成一組數值來決定失真的程度，它對雷射造成的散射與遮蔽本身就是訊號的改變。光源之間的混合也不是由位置數據去控制一台虛擬混音器，而是光在空間中的擴散與重疊，直接形成接收端所得到的比例。換言之，環境本身就是訊號處理實際發生的場所。

What Is It Like to Hear Light? 哲學家 Thomas Nagel 曾以蝙蝠為例指出，即使我們掌握了關於蝙蝠身體構造、神經系統與回聲定位的全部客觀知識，仍不等於我們能夠知道作為一隻蝙蝠究竟是什麼感覺。

當技術為我們增加一個原本不具備的受器時，我們是否因此獲得了另一種感知世界的可能？轉換機制使人得以聽見光的閃爍，甚至接收到肉眼不可見的紅外線，但一個新的受器所接收到的訊號，又如何成為我們的感知？光仍須經過感測、轉導與放大，最後才重新組織為人類聽覺可以感受的聲音，我們獲得的是一種由光、儀器與人的感官共同構成的經驗。然而我們既有的感官同樣不是接收世界的透明通道。光在視網膜中被轉換成神經訊號，空氣振動在耳蝸中被轉換成神經脈衝，我們所見所聞始終受限於身體所能接收與處理的形式。探測器不只是為感官增加新的能力，也反過來使我意識到我們習以為常的世界原本就是由特定身體與受器所形成的世界。而在不同的身體與受器之中，世界是否也如同作品中的光是以不同的方式顯現?