Variable Size
Mixed media: traditional chinese pigments and watercolor on paper, digital collage, and stop-motion animation.
This project constructs a music-visualization system by assigning each note its own color and shape, then weaves these colors into a panoramic map of sound. Each note, beginning as a watercolor, is scanned, and arranged digitally so the listening experience simultaneously blooms on paper and on the screen. Culture, sound, and aesthetics flow together as three voices synchronized into one harmony. The system is modular, allowing for additional instruments to expand the orchestra.
For the piano section, all fifty-two white keys are painted, and the black keys are divided into distinctive variants for sharps and flats. As an emblematic piece, l choose Chopin's Ballade No.1 in G minor, Op. 23—long linked to Adam Mickiewicz's epic Konrad Wallenrod. Themes of heroism, war, patrimony, and the loneliness of the shore—shared by both the music and the poem—are translated visually and braided organically into the work.
For the guzheng section, l draw on the five tones of the traditional Chinese pentatonic scale—gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu—adding pressed-note variants for fa and si. Using pigments from traditional Chinese painting, five string groups are translated into the ancient masterpiece High Mountains, Flowing Water (Gaoshan Liushui). The union and opposition between towering peaks and coursing streams echoes the zhiyin tale of Bo Ya and Zhong Ziqi—a true friend is one who understands your music.