Option 2 – Drawing and Sound

P
U
F

Worktype: Immersive interactive installation

Work Description: Try to recreate the sound world of the ancient painting <秋山问道图>(Asking the Way in the Autumn Mountains, create by Ran Ju in early Song Dynasty, 975 AD) and experience the rhythm of the world in the painting. It’s not just an immersive installation, it’s an interactive one. The world in the painting is a valley, so that when the visitor shouts into the painting he can hear the echoes of his voice coming from the valley. And when he steps within the range of the speakers, he can hear his own footsteps.

秋山问道图(Asking the Way in the Autumn Mountains)-Ran Ju

Tech Specs:

  • A display: showing a video (the choice was made to show it in video form, considering that it would add the effect of rain or snow to the painting)
  • 16 speakers (preliminary plan): surround sound system, one ring on the ceiling and one ring on the floor.
  • One microphone(Preferably placed behind the screen): live recording of visitors’ voices
  • One computer: for real-time processing of visitors’ voices
  • Triggers (placed on the ground) or motion capture systems: when visitors walk into the range of the speakers, they can hear their own footsteps

Sound elements: ambient sounds of the mountains (animals and streams), weather (rain, wind), lyre (guqin or vessel flute), shouts and footsteps of visitors

Reference installation: “A so-called archive”, Onyeka Igwe, 2020