Zai Tang
Residency period
02 April – 28 September 2018
About
Zai Tang (b. 1984, United Kingdom) is an artist, composer, and sound designer based in Singapore. Employing a wide range of analogue and digital technologies, his practice experiments with different ways to translate the audible in visual phenomena. Recent exhibitions and collaborations include 2nd Yinchuan Biennale, China (2018); Resident Frequencies, National Gallery Singapore (2017); Railtrack Songmaps, Gillman Barracks, Singapore (2016); SOUND: Latitudes & Attitudes, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore (2014). Tang participated as a guest musician to Tarek Atoui’s exhibition The Ground: From the Land to the Sea, NTU CCA Singapore (2018).
Focus
Object-orientated ontology (OOO) is a 21st-century school of thought that rejects the primacy of human existence over non-human objects, thus generating different perspectives on ecological thinking. Combining an ongoing interest in natural environments threatened by urban development with his practice of capturing sonic emanations of the non-human inhabitants of our planet, Tang aims to further his understanding of OOO and sharpen theoretical tools that challenge anthropocentric hierarchies and understanding of nature. The space of the studio provides him with the opportunity to test immersive multisensorial installations that visualize and animate field recordings taken in various natural environments in Singapore. During the residency, the artist is working on new sound compositions and modes of listening that forge alternative connections between humans and nonhumans. He is also experimenting with drawing to create “visual scores” in response to his soundscapes.