Until May 7th, 2022, Artist’s Room at Jameel Arts Centre exhibits Samson Young’s site-specific installation, “Reasonable Music”. Artist’s Rooms present solo exhibitions by significant, creative artists, particularly from the Middle East, Asia and Africa. These art series are cooperative and curated together with the artists.
The Hong Kong-based awarded artist presents “Reasonable Music” as an interactive setting consisting of (text as) sound and (text as) image. The elements in this set are taken from the processing of translating Daodejing, a Daoist text. Insights from mathematical analysis on the text’s formal features are filtered through human intuition to create a network of sonic and visual objects. As formal features progress along a chain of events, they are transformed, distorted, and take on new features.
With the help of a variety of computer-generated images, sound performance and 3D-printed sculptures, the innovative artwork strives to examine the ideas of nervousness during information overload in the world. The exhibition is made from a 7-channel sound installation (3D printed PLA plastic on repurposed mic stands, speakers, LED matrix), 3D printed PLA plastic with embedded electronics, two-channel video, vinyl and custom software.
A monograph with an essay by Orianna Cacchione, Curator of Global Contemporary Art, Smart Museum of Art, at the University of Chicago, accompanies “Reasonable Music”. Art Jameel has published it and the monograph can be found at the Art Jameel Shop.
Samson Young is a multi-disciplinary artist working in sound, video, performance, and installation. He studied music, philosophy and gender studies. In 2017, his solo project “Songs for Disaster Relief” was presented at the 57th Venice Biennale as a work from Hong Kong. Samson Young received the BMW Art Journey Award, a Prix Ars Electronica Award of Distinction in Sound Art and Digital Music, and in 2020 he was granted the inaugural Uli Sigg Prize.
