Sep 11, 2021 -
Dec 3, 2021
Project, How Art Museum
HOW Art Museum is pleased to announce that the exhibition of Colin Siyuan Chinnery's art project Voluntary Garden will be on view from September 11, 2021.
No 1, Lane 2277 Zuchongzhi Rd., Shanghai 201203, China
Tel: +86 21 5157 2222 Email: info@howartmuseum.org
From October 17 to 24, 2019, in a Suzhou-style garden next to the Forbidden City, 39 musicians played, one by one, on a small platform in the middle of a pool surrounded by scholar's rocks and exquisite plants. There were musicians of all kinds, some representative of Chinese classical or folk music, others veterans of Beijing's rock scene. Many used traditional Chinese instruments to play contemporary music, while others used computers or electronic hardware to make their soundscapes and compositions. There were guitarists and drummers of all kinds, jazz virtuosos and hardcore feedback visionaries. Over the course of eight days, each musician was filmed and recorded saturating the garden with their own unique voice. Colin Siyuan Chinnery then took this disparate collection of music and turned it into one coherent 19-minute work in the form of a 4-channel video installation. Musicians appear on different screens simultaneously, forming musical interactions. As the musicians replace each other, over and over again, the music constantly changes and yet, somehow, remains strangely consistent. Unintentional musical dialogues weaved together into an intricate sound space where styles, cultures, and eras come together, defying convention. The music becomes a narrative in which each musician unconsciously contributes to a plot that they themselves are unaware of, allowing separate worlds to effortlessly coexist.
Colin Siyuan Chinnery's Voluntary Garden was first shown at Fusion Art Center, where the work was filmed, from 10 November to 9 December 2019 to be later exhibited at UCCA between December 12 and March 1, 2020. Voluntary Garden is a collaboration between UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Fusion Art Center, Modern Sky's BADHEAD Records, and COART. 39 musicians participated in the recording process on the invitation of curators Zhang Xiaozhou and You Yang.
Participating Musicians (in alphabetical order)
Cao Yang, Deng Boyu, Feng Jiangzhou, Feng Hao, Fun lok, Feng Mengbo, Nathaniel Gao, Guan Fei, Huang Jin, Lao Dan, Li Hongsen, Li Jianhong, Li Xing, Li Yi, Liu Xiaosong, Liu Yucao, Lu Yan, Lyu Zhi-Qiang, Mamer, Meng Qi, Nalinhu, Pei, Akino, Shao Yanpeng, Wang Chenhuai, Wang Xiaofang, Wen Zhiyong, Wei Wei, Wu Na, Xia Yuyan, Yan Jun + Ake, Yang Haisong, You Yang, Yu Weimin, Zhou Fengling, Zhang Meng, Zhang Shouwang, Zhang Mo.
