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Arts & Communication Sound and cross-cultural art in China since 1980s

explanations. The ideology behind sound art is
its sensory inclination and live experience. Sound
embodies the essence of “field.” It stimulates instinct
and intuition, abolishing conceptualism.” 10
This characteristic originates from conceptual
performance art but transcends it and has intensified the
explorations of sound by Chinese experimental artists. In
July 2001, Qiu Zhijie curated the experimental exhibition
Sound 2 at the Mustard Seed Garden Art Center, an
informal art space in the suburbs of Beijing. The number
of participating artists increased and contributors included
members of the Post-sense Sensibility group, new artists,
and artists from New York. Unlike the Sound 1 (2000)
Figure 11. Zhang Peili, Audible Mattress, new and old mattresses, pressure group, exhibition and Qiu’s solo show The Sound of Sounds
sensing controller, voice player, power amplifier, and speakers, 2018. (2001), Sound 2 was a true sound art exposition centered
Reprinted with permission from Spurs Gallery. Copyright© Zhang Peili. on sound works. The works on display relied primarily on
two key attributes of sound: the relationship between sound
and motion and the spatiality of sound. First, sound and
motion are connected because sound waves are generated
through vibration, which causes the eardrum to vibrate
and allows us to hear. Second, travels across space and is
influenced by specific spatial structures such as echoes.
Most artworks showcased in this exhibition emphasized
the relationship between bodily (or object) movement
and the generation of sound by producing sound through
visible motion. The concept of “embodied cognition”
helps to construe these sound works. According to the
theory of embodied cognition, the thinking process is
not just a function of the brain; rather, it results from
the body’s interactions with its environment. Wang
11
Figure 12. Zhang, Peili, Audible Mattress, new and old mattresses, Wei’s work Touch incorporates embodied cognition into
pressure sensing controller, voice player, power amplifier, and speakers, the experience of sound by visitors: participants must
2024. Reprinted with permission from Spurs Gallery. Copyright© Zhang understand the piece by perceiving movement and sound
Peili. and must also physically move their bodies within the
environment (Figure 13). Touch encompasses an enclosed
common Chinese and Japanese onomatopoeia, visually glass tunnel with the sounds of friction and body slapping
indicating the rise and fall of sounds. Qiu carved the played through speakers above the glass. Visitors move
names of musical notes into the soles of Japanese wooden carefully through the tunnel and during this process, the
sandals in the artwork titled Jiugong • LüLü, and visitors sounds change in response to their movements.
were instructed to wear the sandals, walk around the
gallery, and leave imprints of the names of musical notes Apart from producing sound through movement, some
on the floor. The exhibition was almost entirely silent: It works in this exhibition used sound-activated switches or
achieved Qiu’s intention of focusing on the imaginative interactive devices to control sound. Reception esthetics
and energetic qualities represented by words rather than consider artworks open structures that invite active
on the sound sources themselves. These works emphasized participation from visitors to accomplish the “recreation”
the visual, material, and psychological aspects of sound of the piece. Interactive sound works use techniques such
rather than its auditory experience. as sound localization, echo, and delay to ask listeners to
enter specific sound fields through the spatial arrangement
Qiu Zhijie described sound art as follows: of sound. Visitors experience discrete sound variations as
“You can only experience it from the inside, not they move through the designated spaces, which invite
theorize it from the outside. You are immersed them to engage with and respond to the relationships
in the moment, with no opportunity for other between sound and space.

Volume 3 Issue 3 (2025) 7 doi: 10.36922/ac.4669