Elegy of Resonance I
2024
Copper electroculture antenna, electromagnet solenoid, 128C, 256C and 512C tuning forks, single-channel video installation with multichannel sound output system, audio amplifiers
Elegy of Resonance is an installation comprising sound devices synchronized with a video. Rather than using conventional speakers, these devices receive audio signals from the video and simultaneously translate them into tactile sonic experiences. The work explores the crisis of hybrid cultural identities in Asia, using hybrid—but sterile—flowers as metaphorical elements to invite speculation on belonging, fertility, and transformation.
Primarily, the installation examines the emotional and psychological dimensions of resonance in regions that have undergone socio-political upheavals and contemporary trauma. Infertile flowers serve as symbols of cultural identities that struggle to thrive or reproduce. Alongside this, the tuning fork is employed as a symbolic apparatus—its properties multifaceted: as an instrument of resonance that evokes collective harmony, a tool used in artificial pollination across species, and a therapeutic device in homeopathy for balancing internal energies.
The accompanying video documents the process of using a tuning fork to extract pollen—a gesture that mourns the inability of hybrid bodies, both floral and human, to sustain themselves. While addressing the vulnerability of the self, the tuning forks—each set to different frequencies—are also attuned to regulate internal energies, offering a subtle act of care for the distress inherited from historical trauma and political unrest. Each sound device incorporates floral morphological features and principles of electroculture, further entangling the notions of identity, fertility, and resonance across the human and botanical realms.
- Installation view, Elegy of Resonance I, 2024, ‘Hong Kong Qi’, Mangrove Gallery, Shenzhen, China. Photo. Courtesy of Mangrove Gallery
- Detail, Elegy of Resonance I, 2024. Photo. Karie Tsui.
- Detail, Elegy of Resonance I, 2024. Photo. Karie Tsui.
- Video Preview, Elegy of Resonance I, 2024. Link: https://vimeo.com/fishtankzip/elegyofresonancei2024
- Detail, Elegy of Resonance I, 2024. Photo. Karie Tsui.