The System
系統
- I construct autonomous systems, rather than pre-determining the final form of the work, to enable non-human systems such as microorganisms, plants, electromagnetic fields, and sound feedback to jointly generate sound. In the work, sound is a way of observing the operation of the system, rather than a result of creation.
- 透過建構自主系統,而非預設作品的最終形式,使微生物、植物、電磁場、聲音回授等非人系統共同生成聲音。聲音在作品中是一種觀察系統運作的方式,而非創作的結果。
Related works
The System
系統
I construct autonomous systems, rather than pre-determining the final form of the work, to enable non-human systems such as microorganisms, plants, electromagnetic fields, and sound feedback to jointly generate sound. In the work, sound is a way of observing the operation of the system, rather than a result of creation.
透過建構自主系統,而非預設作品的最終形式,使微生物、植物、電磁場、聲音回授等非人系統共同生成聲音。聲音在作品中是一種觀察系統運作的方式,而非創作的結果。
I am interested in autonomous systems shaped by invisible signals, emergent processes, and self-regulation. Rather than constructing fixed sonic structures, I create conditions in which microorganisms, plants, electromagnetic fields, acoustic feedback, and other non-human systems interact with their environments. Through continuous feedback loops and fluctuating signals, these interactions give rise to sonic states that cannot be precisely predicted. The focus of this body of work is not on controlling outcomes, but on constructing systems capable of evolving on their own, with sound serving as a means of observing their behaviors.
This series originated from my fascination with the self-referential nature of acoustic feedback between a microphone and a loudspeaker. A sound emitted by the speaker is captured again by the microphone, causing the system's output to become its next input in an ongoing recursive loop. Similar phenomena can be found when two mirrors endlessly reflect one another, when a camera is pointed at its own monitor, or when recursive algorithms repeatedly apply the same rule to generate infinitely complex structures. One of the most compelling aspects of acoustic feedback is that it does not require a deliberately introduced external source. Minute air vibrations, ambient noise, or even the electrical noise inherent in a circuit can be continuously amplified through feedback until they develop into overwhelming sonic events.
This led me to question whether artistic creation could likewise reduce dependence on external authorship. Instead of composing a finished work, I became interested in constructing the conditions from which a work could continuously emerge. The artwork is therefore no longer conceived as a completed object, but as an evolving system whose form unfolds through its own operation.
(photo by : 高雄市立美術館)
(photo by : 張欣語)
Randomness became another central theme throughout this series. During the development of Feeding, I introduced variable pause durations after each upward movement of the microphone to prevent multiple units from settling into repetitive behavioral patterns. This simple intervention revealed that a degree of randomness could disrupt mechanical repetition while allowing the system to maintain an underlying internal coherence.
Although natural systems operate according to biological and physical principles, they rarely exhibit perfectly periodic behavior. Air currents, water flows, neuronal activity, cellular metabolism, microbial communities, plant growth, and even human breathing and heartbeats all fluctuate continuously. The order of living systems is therefore not founded upon absolute regularity, but upon an ongoing negotiation between stability and contingency. Within my practice, randomness is not employed merely to introduce unpredictability; rather, it functions as a necessary condition through which systems acquire an organic quality. From algorithmically generated randomness in software to electromagnetic fluctuations, biological metabolism, environmental disturbances, and the unpredictable actions of visitors, multiple forms of indeterminacy participate in shaping each work within this series.
(photo by : 台北數位藝術中心)
(photo by : 均勻製作)
(photo by : 林彥翔)
(photo by : 張欣語)
(photo by : 張欣語)
我關注由不可見訊號、衍生機制或自我調節所形成的自主系統,作品並不會建立固定的聲音結構,而是透過設計不同的環境條件,使微生物、植物、電磁場、聲音回授等非人系統與環境互動,在持續的回饋循環或訊號波動中衍生出無法精準預期的聲音狀態。此系列作品重點不在於控制結果,而是在於建構一個能夠自行演化的系統,以聲音作為這套系統下的一種觀察方式。
這系列的起源是因為我對於麥克風與喇叭回授(Feedback)時,兩者之間的「自我指涉」的關係感興趣:喇叭輸出的聲音再次被麥克風接收,系統的輸出成為下一次運作的輸入,在持續的循環中不斷改變,好比兩面鏡子相對時,影像無限映照自身;攝影機對著自己的監視畫面時,畫面不斷遞迴;圖像程式中的遞迴演算(recursion)透過反覆套用相同規則,生成近乎無限的結構。這樣的現象其中一項迷人之處,在於它的起點不需要刻意加入其他外部輸入,任何空氣中微弱的振動,甚至電路本身的底噪,都可能在不斷回授的過程中被放大,最終衍生出巨大的聲響。自此我開始思考創作是否也可以減少人為主觀創造(外部輸入),從「創造作品」轉向「建構條件」,作品則不再是一個被完成的物件,而是一個持續運作、持續生成的系統。
(photo by : 高雄市立美術館)
(photo by : 張欣語)
「隨機(Random)」則是這個系列的另一個子題,在「Feeding」這件作品的實驗階段,為了避免多座裝置出現過於固定的模式,我在將麥克風往上拉之後設定了不固定的暫停時間,適度的隨機性打破了機械性的重複,使系統持續產生難以預測但仍具有內在規律的變化。大自然雖然遵循一定的生物機制,卻很少呈現完全週期性的運動,氣流、水流、神經放電、細胞代謝、微生物群落、樹木的生長,乃至於人的心跳呼吸,都伴隨著細微且持續的波動。生命的秩序並不建立在絕對的規律之上,而是在規律與偶然之間不斷調整。於是「隨機」成為了我作品的系統產生有機狀態的一種必要條件,從程式碼中演算法的數位隨機到物理世界的電磁波動、生物代謝、環境干擾甚至是不可預期的觀眾行為都部分參與了此系列不同作品。
(photo by : 台北數位藝術中心)
(photo by : 均勻製作)
「即時(real-time)」
(photo by : 林彥翔)
(photo by : 張欣語)
(photo by : 張欣語)