On the 41 Ross residency
41 Ross is an art space located in the Ross Alley, which is in the centre of Chinatown, a tourist
area in San Francisco. Throughout our stay, we fully experienced the mission of 41 Ross to
serve as a community art space, as we received visits from the local people and tourists who
may not be the usual audiences for art. And opening the space to the public and hosting
activities made a great impact on me, as these experiences encouraged me to talk with many
different visitors about my art practice as well as allowing me to get familiar with the
neighbourhood, especially as we were in what for us was a foreign place. I am used to
preparing and produce my artwork in isolated situations, therefore to show the production
process in an open studio is an important and new experience for me. I was happy to be making
a lot of new friends there.

From the beginning of the residency, materials and resources were a major concern in the art I
was producing. As I wanted to maintain a fresh approach to my art making, my idea was to
reduce my reliance on complex technology and my approach of using computational musical
interfaces that I was previously familiar with. To start with, I reviewed my skills as an artist, then
I selected skills that I had long forgotten how to begin with – which included sketching and
making readymade sculptures. During the first week of the residency, I focused heavily on the
conceptual side and used sketches to represent my ideas. Also, I exchanged sketches for
objects from the visitors, planning to use these objects as readymade materials. Many visitors
were curious about my sketches, so I was glad to know there were new possibilities with these
new approaches, that could start with communication, and work with a simple art medium –
sketching, and then further relate these sketches back to the more complex materials of
electronics and hardware. This gave me a clearer reflection on my themes and the direction of
my creation. Also, by slowing down and talking to others, I was made aware of the non-technical
aspects of my art-making too.

Reviewing my stay, one interesting thing that I remember were the talks that I had with different
people visiting the space. By talking to local artists, we learned more about the local art scene
and potential exhibition spaces around the city. Moreover, it was good to have real-time
feedback on our works and works-in-progress in the space by the open studio. I am quite sure
that this encouraged me to share my practice and knowledge with different groups of people.

The most complex stage of the residency started in the second week, as I needed to confirm the
final works which were to be presented. The parts and materials for the artworks needed to be
ordered within a limited time and budget. If my readymade practice has a single true nature, it is
that it utilises the materials from its surroundings. So, when I was preparing my final
presentation at 41 Ross, I tried my best to implement the unused and recycled materials stored
at the art space. This was so fun and meaningful, as it reminded me of the time when I was an
art student.

Towards the end of the residency, I created a set of readymade sound objects. Most parts of
these sculptures’ forms were inspired by the location and my local experiences during the stay.
They involved different kinds of interactions, including an installation in a telephone exchange, a
sound machine, a lamp, and a train-track system. I also performed with these objects in my final
presentation. My favourite work was the train-track readymade I built using a stool, pieces of vinyl, a motor, screen, and computer code. In some ways, this piece with its system of
interaction was an appropriate way to conclude my residency trip.

Other cultural-artistic influences
Besides the residency experience at 41 Ross, there were several other influences I received
from visiting other places, including those recommended by the local art community. These

places were somehow strongly related to my practice as they inspired parts of the work I
created. With the knowledge gained from these visits, I am sure they will be inspiring for me to
explore in my future art making. I would like to summarize them into the following categories:

Media Archaeology in Media Art & Technology education
One day, we visited the Computer History Museum at Mountain View. It is a place that
showcases vintage computers, from early punch card machines to personal computers. The
exhibited items revealed the details of the materials, circuits, wiring, and the mechanical
processes of their operation. Putting this back into the context of Media Art, the charming
aspects of Media Archaeology are all about the “know-how” revealed by opening these “black-
boxes”. Seeing all of them, I reflected on a possible future approach to implement Media
Archaeology in my own work as an arts educator. This could mean believing more in the
collection of old artifacts and technology, and their maintenance for future generations.

Live coding and audio-visual arts
There is also a place called Gray Area in the Mission District. From the outside, it appears to be
a refurbished theatre. Gray Area is run by a group of new media artists in which they hold art-
and tech-related events, including electronic synth workshops and software workshops. I also
found that they had a library of synthesizers. We were also lucky to be able to attend a
performance by a group of Live Coding artists from the area, and local art collective AvClubSF
was the major organiser of this event. The art of live coding is very fun and open-ended. The
performer will perform audio-visually, while also showing their coding/software control panel.
This way of presentation echoes back to the media “know-how” of Media Archaeology that
reflects on the past but is also about the present. Though I have only tried live-coding a single
time, in a small event with my friends, I have always been fascinated by the idea of it, and this
was my first time experiencing it fully. I believe this will be one of the most significant future developments of Media Art. It exposes the artist’s knowledge of the code in front of their
audience, and is also a demanding art form for the artist as any error will be noticeable in real
time. This year, I wish to explore the possibility of implementing live coding into my own
practice.

To conclude, this residency provided me with a unique opportunity to share my art with a
diverse group of international audiences, reflect upon my own practice, and explore possible
new forms of art. I also learned a lot by meeting new friends and cooperating with the
soundpocket team to bring meaningful events to 41 Ross during those three weeks.

–

舊呂宋巷 41 的駐留
舊呂宋巷 41 是一個處於舊呂宋巷的藝術空間，同為旅遊景點三藩市華埠的正中心位置。在駐留的日子裡，我們很能夠體驗到舊呂宋巷 41 作為社區藝術空間的理念，很多當地人和遊客前來參觀，有部分更不是慣常的藝術觀眾。而開放空間及舉辦活動更為社區帶來重要的影響，尤其當我們身處外地，這十分能讓我與不同觀眾分享我的藝術創作及熟悉鄰近社區。以往我很慣常會在一個與外間隔絕的情況下準備和製作作品。因此，對我而言，以開放工作室的形式向外界展示作品的製作過程是一個重要且新鮮的經驗。我很高興能在那裡結識了很多新朋友。

自駐留計劃開始，材料和資源一直是我創作藝術的一個關注點。由於我希望保持對藝術創作過程的新鮮感，所以想減少對熟悉的複雜技術和電腦音樂界面那類方法的依賴。首先，我回顧自己作為藝術家的技能，然後選擇一些被遺忘已久的技能作開始，當中包括繪畫和創作「現成物」雕塑。在駐留的第一週，我從概念方面著手，並以繪畫來表達我的想法。此外，我還以繪畫與訪客交換沒用的物件，打算將這些物件用作「現成物」。訪客都對我的繪畫非常好奇，我很高興看到新的創作方法帶來了新的可能性。像我如何從溝通和一個簡單的藝術媒介—速寫開始，然後進一步重新聯繫到複雜的電子零件物料和硬件。這讓我更清晰地去反思創作的主題和方向。此外，慢下來和與別人交談的過程，也讓我更關注藝術創作在技術層面以外的面向。

回想我在舊呂宋巷 41 的時間，其中很有趣的事是能夠與不同的訪客交談。通過與當地藝術家交流，我們了解到更多有關當地藝術界和城市周圍的其他展覽場所。此外，透過向公眾開放工作室，我得到觀眾對作品和未完成作的即時意見。我相信往後我會更主動與不同人分享我的藝術實踐和知識。

駐留計劃最複雜的階段大概是由第二週開始，因我需要確認最終所展示的作品，並需於有限的時間和成本內訂購和購買所需的零件和材料。若我的「現成物」藝術實踐有其真正的本質，那就是如何利用身邊周圍的材料創作。準備最終展示的期間，我盡量利用藝術空間儲存室中回收及未被使用的材料。這實在非常有趣和有意義，讓我想起當藝術學生的時光。

最後，我創作了一組「現成品」聲音物件，當中這雕塑的大部分形式都受到駐留的地點和當地經驗所啟發。它們是具有各種互動形式的裝置，包括電話接駁機、音效機、燈和火車軌道系統。我也在最後展示中用這些物件完成了一場演出。我最喜歡的作品是我用凳子、黑膠唱片、馬達、屏幕和代碼建造的火車軌道「現成品」，它以某種方式總結了我的駐留之旅，像在一個互動系統之中。

其他文化藝術發現
除了在舊呂宋巷 41 的駐留經驗外，還有一些從參觀所得的發現，有好些地方是由當地藝術朋友所推薦的。這些參觀經驗與我的創作實踐有著密切的關聯，也啟發了我部分的作品。我相信這些新的知識將是我未來藝術創作中持續探索的主要方向，我將它們分作以下類別：

媒體考古—媒體藝術與科技教育
有天，我們到訪山景城的電腦歷史博物館。這裡展示了各種舊電腦，由早期的打孔卡機到個人電腦，這些展品顯示了物料、電路、接駁和操作上機械過程的細節。再看媒體藝術的概念，媒體考古迷人的地方在於通過打開「黑盒子」取得「知識」。看到這一切，我反思作為藝術教育工作者，未來在作品中融入媒體考古學的可行方法。這意味著我更相信收藏舊物和科技，以及其相關維修知識對未來世代的重要性。

現場編碼與影音藝術
教會區裡有一個地方叫 Gray Area 。這座建築從外觀上看似一座翻新的劇院，實際上，它是由一群新媒體藝術家營運的場地，用於舉辦與藝術科技相關的活動，例如電子合成器工作坊和軟件工作坊，他們還有一個合成器圖書館。我們很幸運能夠看到當地一場現場編碼藝術家群體 AvClubSF 所帶來的表演，他們亦是這場活動的籌辦者。現場編碼藝術是非常有趣和開放式的，演出者將以編碼/軟件介面一起進行視聽多媒體演出。它回應過去媒體考古的「知識」，也是關於現在的。雖然我曾在朋友舉辦的小型活動中嘗試過一次，但這是我第一次作為觀眾真正完整體驗現場編碼表演。我相信這是媒體藝術未來一個重要的發展方向，在觀眾面前打開了代碼知識。這同時也是一種對藝術家很嚴格的藝術形式，因為任何實時錯誤都會被發現。我希望這年能探索將現場編碼融入到我的創作實踐的可能性。

總括而言，這駐留計劃給了我一個獨特的經驗，讓我與不同的國際觀眾分享我的藝術，反思自己的實踐，並探索新的藝術形式。這三個星期裡透過結識新朋友和與聲音掏腰包團隊合作，一同於舊呂宋巷 41 舉辦有意義的活動，得益不少。