Hearing Rhythm, Seeing Rhythm: A Research Approach to Reimagining Traditions of Chinese Poetic ‘rules of rhythm’

Ling Liu

Throughout the history of China, from early dynasties into contemporary times, aspects of poetry, painting, and writing have been grounded in varied but deeply connected ‘rules of rhythm’. These ‘rules’ permeate in diverse yet identifiable and recognizable forms. The research in this project is aimed at both adopting and adapting these rules of rhythm or rhythmic patterns in an experimental form that reimagines a tradition of ‘lyric aesthetics’ in the context of the contemporary interplay between sound, image, and writing. In this sense, the investigation is at once one of ‘reclamation’ and extension. The basic ‘question’ in these experiments is whether it is possible to represent sonic patterns themselves — that is, by both visualizing sound structures and ‘sonifying’ visual forms (irrespective of textual content). The text focuses on the historical establishment of methodological approaches (as a way to identify their forms) and then transforming/translating these in combinations made possible by blending the sonic and visual. As a particular attribute of Chinese expression, these ‘rules’ or forms are cultural traits that have endured through many centuries and challenges and, more importantly in this case, can be (re)iterated in dynamic, fluid, and revitalized contemporary artistic configurations that aim at seeing sound, writing sound, and performing rhythm. Download Accessible PDF

This accessible page is a derivative of https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/1900487/3063482 which it is meant to support and not replace. The background presents details of the rhythmic record of the sound work 锦瑟 The Sad Zither. 'Paint the Rhythm II' (2022), brushwork on rice paper.

Video description: A video offering a visual and sonic tour of the exhibition Hearing Rhythm, Seeing Rhythm at the BCA Gallery, Ireland. Accompanied by a vocal score, the video depicts the various rooms in the exhibition. In one a video work on a monitor shows a hand painting lines on paper with a thick brush, alongside these, hung on the wall are the finished works on paper, arranged in a column from the ceiling to the floor. In a second room, bathed in dim blue light, a visitor enters to listen to an immersive sound work. Click https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/1900487/3063482#tool-3076702 to watch the video.

Hearing Rhythm, Seeing Rhythm

A Research Approach to Reimagining Traditions of Chinese Poetic ‘rules of rhythm’

Ling Liu

Introduction

This body of research has been developed over four years. With a background in Chinese art and history, traditional and historical perspectives have always been a foundation of my education. For over a decade, I have been traversing countries, languages, media, literature, and art, searching for precisely the necessary means to represent the significance and complexity of the tradition and culture, as well as why they matter today. However, after spending so long away from home, there has often been a struggle with the tremendous difference between East and West and with identifying or bridging the crucial aspects that constitute this difference. Therefore, with my solid studies in Chinese painting and my knowledge — as well as enthusiasm — for traditional poetry, and as an artist who has also studied electronic media and is working primarily with sound and visual experimental and performative works, I start this journey of investigating, reclaiming, and creating.

Chinese poetry, writing, and painting (like all cultural forms of expression), in the context of Chinese aesthetics, contain both meaning and form. My current focus involves vocal and visual performance, in an attempt to disclose/reveal (with sonic–visual means) the formative rhythmic patterns that constitute deeply rooted traditions of Chinese cultural expression. Writing, painting, and singing in Chinese are embodied forms, incorporating intricate vocal nuances and subtly ‘drawn’ gestures — gestures of writing and gestures of speech. Indeed, in Chinese, even writing is performative. And rather than consider the particular textual content of the poems or lyrics, in these works I focus instead on revealing the sound patterns, lyrical intonation, rhythmic precision, and methods of representing or drawing rhythm. [1] How the historical and theoretical considerations of continuity extend into a contemporary form in this research project are detailed in the sections below.

[1] It is worth noting that the point of this project is not to undermine the cohesion of the rhythmic rules in the history of China, but to investigate how intricately organized they are with the artistic experiments. ↩︎

Next >>

Tip

Tip

Ling Liu - Hearing Rhythm, Seeing Rhythm: A Research Approach to Reimagining Traditions of Chinese Poetic ‘rules of rhythm’ - 2024