Sound Art Open Call 2011 – Meet the Artist

// Meet the Artist

The Substation is pleased to be able to confirm that Kian-Peng Ong, also known as Bin, has been chosen as the first recipient of the inaugural Sound Art Open Call for 2011. Joyce Teo caught up with him and asked him about his interests in the sound art genre, social media and his upcoming installation Within 140 Characters.

As the first recipient of the newly initiated Sound Art Open Call, can you elaborate on your interpretation of sound art? What do you think of the current reception of such new media art in Singapore?  I think sound art can be mainly categorized into two groups. One of it looks at the aesthetics of sound and new ways of making sound. The other looks at using sound conceptually, to highlight certain issues, spaces and our perceptions. Both are equally interesting and I would love to explore in both directions. I wouldn’t say sound art = new media art because sound art started before words came into existence. But indeed, a lot of artists are exploring new ways in which technology is somehow involved in the process of creating sound, so in that sense yes, sound art is closely associated with new media art. Within 140 Characters is such an example, since technology and sound are both equally integral. Currently, such works in my opinion are still at the beginning of the process of being widely accepted by the art audience. Generally I think a lot of people have problems associating technology with art.

Tell us a bit more about your personal encounter with new media, as artist, as well as a member of society. What are your artistic interests, and how you have come to use what you use, to say what you want to say?

New media has always been something fascinating for me because of its possibilities, particularly in the ways it can engage with the audience. Sure, there is a steep learning curve but that is also one part of the fun. Being able to program (as in knowing a programming language) also allows me to do things as I wish, without being restricted by softwares that others have made. As a common man on the street, it is also very interesting to see how new media devices and technologies are fast integrating into our lives and becoming ‘not so new’.

The point of departure for my works have always been based on my experience or observations as an individual and it is never about technology over content. As with other artists, my works always starts off with something that I wish to explore and I have never really limited myself to one specific field. The scope of my interests is wide, as far as the medium or the format of the work is concerned. So far I’ve worked with objects/devices, sound, generative paintings, audiovisual and data visualization.

Artistically, my interests have always revolved around the different environment that humans live in, be it physical or virtual. There is also a field work element involved in the process of creating my works that I enjoy. This can be collecting images, sound, data or just getting to know a place well. I would say that being there and being part of it is an important part of my work.

I was really interested in climate change during my final year in LASALLE and I wanted to explore how our perceptions towards these future disasters (but surely, if nothing is done) can be changed, to somehow relate them to the immediate present. This resulted in a wearable piece titled The Flood Helmet (2009), which feeds from GPS coordinates and data predicted by the climate change panel. The helmet floods whenever the user walks into an area predicted to be affected in the future. This creates an immersive experience of seeing the landscape being altered in real time and connecting it to their immediate environment.

Flood Helmet triggered my interest in shifting perceptions and that led to my next project, Bright Noise (2009) where I tried to address the problematic visual means of representing light pollution by sonifying images of the city’s lightscape. The result was a series of sonic soundscapes representing the situation of light pollution in different parts of the city.

Please introduce us to your proposed project, what is it about, what it aims to say and hopes to do? How different is it from your past works?

Within 140 Characters is a sonic composition in response to an emerging trend of social networks being used in Singapore as an open mic/forum where anyone can voice their opinions on topics ranging from politics to their everyday lives. Particularly, Twitter feeds are being used in this case for its openness and also because it is interesting to see how it behaves like a broadcasting station with a confine of 140 characters.

This work is not really about saying anything on its own, rather it aims to explore and investigate the virtual, social and psychological landscape of Singapore through sound patterns; frequencies triggered and altered in real time by twitter searches. The audience in this case, is a collaborator who can help to define the keywords to search for in this performance.

In many ways, this piece is about creating a framework because we don’t really know how many tweets are going to be posted or what topics would be popular. This is the first time that I am using such a generative approach in making sound and also, the involvement of the audience in art-making is a first for me.

On top of new media as a medium, there seems to be a growing trend in artists using data and information as trigger or determinant for their art forms. Do you see this as an almost desperate attempt to be socially engaged? Especially in the context of Singapore where the artist still struggles for his/her role to be perceived as relevant.

I don’t think it is a desperate attempt to be socially engaged but of course, it all depends on the way it is being used. But I do think that it is particularly relevant in today’s context because of our heavy consumption of mobile gadgets and the Internet. Every time we use a service online, we leave traces, a digital artefact. Today, many of us are heavily dependent on the GPS function to use multiple apps including navigational tracking, fitness apps, social apps and etc. So I think it is a parallel progression between the ways we deal with data and how artists use this data in their work. We are bombarded with too much information sometimes and it is hard to make meaning out of it. That is why artists who make use of data are particularly relevant, rather than trying to be relevant.

Within 140 Characters Part 1 (Introduction)
by Bin (Kian-Peng Ong)
The Substation Gallery
2 & 3 September 2011, 8pm
Admission: Free

Within 140 Characters Part 2 (Installation)
by Bin (Kian-Peng Ong)
The Substation Random Room
2 to 19 September 2011, 1-8pm daily
Admission: Free