"What Potions Have I Drunk of Siren Tears"　Alex Yiu　Performance/ 鮫人之淚 姚少龍現場表演 from apluscontemporary on Vimeo.

Improvisation with Cassette Players
18/09/2016
Live Performance at A+ Contemporary
20'


For this performance, I prepared ten cassette players and ten cassette tapes, each capable of playing for 15 seconds on loop. Throughout the performance, I utilised cassette players, finding that the sound I processed seemed to travel only between my voice and the cassette players.  However, the cassette players’ flexibility allowed me to explore the performing space, expanding my vocal range to fill the entire room and enabling me to effortlessly create a soundscape.  During improvisation, I was also mindful of sound diffusion in space, which led me to record additional sounds with each player. This type of music, characterised by repetitions and conditions, draws inspiration from American minimalist composer Steve Reich. In his article “Music as a Gradual Process,” he posits that “content suggests form” while “process suggests content.”  In my improvisation, listening guided the content I desired, and repetitions defined the performance’s representation, resulting in its unique spatial diffusion. The acoustic quality was limited to that produced by the cassette players, introducing variables into the sound production process. Despite this, the frequency remained within my volition, allowing for attentive listening.

There is also a reference from Andrew Haigh's film Weekend (2011).

運用卡式帶錄音機的即興演奏

18/09/2016
在上海 A+ Contemporary 亞洲當代藝術空間
20分鐘

是次演出，我準備了十部卡式錄音機與十盒錄音帶，每盒均可作 15 秒的循環播放。演出期間，我運用這些錄音機，發覺經處理後的聲響，似乎僅在我的嗓音與錄音機之間流動。然而，錄音機的機動性讓我得以探索演出空間，將人聲延展至充斥整個房間，讓我能毫不費力地營造出獨特的音景。在即興演出的過程中，我也意識到聲音在空間中的擴散與漫射，這驅使我利用每部錄音機去錄製更多層次的聲響。這種以「重複」和「條件」為特徵的音樂形式，靈感源自美國極簡主義作曲家 Steve Reich。他在文章《Music as a Gradual Process》中提出：「內容提示了形式」（content suggests form），而「過程則提示了內容」（process suggests content）。在我的即興演出裡，「聆聽」主導了我所渴求的內容，而「重複」則定義了演出的呈現方式，造就了其獨特的空間擴散效果。聲音的特質雖受限於卡式錄音機的機能，卻也因此為聲音產出的過程引入了變數。儘管如此，頻率的變化仍處於我的意志掌控之中，讓聽眾得以專注細聽。

此外，作品亦參照了 Andrew Haigh 執導的電影《Weekend》（2011）。