Music & art version 2.0

laying Piano 鈥渂y eye鈥?with Adaptive Musical Instruments.

鈥淐ould you imagine playing music if you didn鈥檛 have arms?鈥?asks Byeong Sam Jeon, internationally recognized artist and joint curator from South Korea.

鈥淲atch this,鈥?he teases. He is staring at a small screen, on which are images of multi-colored music notes.

He looks intently at them, moving his eyes from one scale to the next, and as he does so a melody is played out through the speakers; the timber of a crisp, perfectly pitched violin.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 how it works. You can play with your eyes, and even your face,鈥?explains Byeong.

鈥淒ifferent facial expressions correspond with different tones, so you can actually play a melody with a smile.鈥?/p>

This amazing state of the art computerized musical instrument is among one of the many exhibits that can be found at this international new media exhibition entitled This Ability, at the Art Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

Byeong, along with Chinese art critic and joint-curator Wang Chunchen, will be overseeing 21 interactive electronic artworks; each providing viewers an original multimedia experience and a chance to witness the creative magic that happens when art and science meet.

鈥淣ew media may not be seen in the same light as traditional art forms, but there is a growing number of artists turning to it in recent years 鈥?and more are likely to join their ranks as advanced technologies and new programs become available,鈥?said Wang.

One of the most interesting presentations at the museum, Adaptive Musical Instruments, was created by a small international team of artists; Pauline Oliveros, Leaf Miller, Zevin Polzin from the US and Zane Van Dusen from the Netherlands.

Substituting guitars and keyboards with cameras and video screens, almost all members of the creative team are not only musicians but also highly skilled computer technicians. In combining their two talents they have created a computer program that brings their acoustic dreams to digital life.

鈥淎rtists want to express the whole of human ability, that is, even if someone is disabled, he or she can still express themselves in other ways using other art forms,鈥?said Byeong. 鈥淭his new media enables more people to express more ideas.鈥?/p>

Another piece on display, called What is Your Vital Capacity? by Chinese artist Zhuo Fan, is another complex piece that further delves into this philosophy.

Using a vital capacity device, which measures the volume and speed of air that can be exhaled, and an illuminated Plexiglas wall filled with smoke, the artist has engineered a medium that when one blows into the device, an image of the participant鈥檚 face will emerge from the smoke within the wall. The steadier the flow of air, the clearer the image appears.

鈥淏ut there is a trick to it,鈥?said Zhuo. 鈥淚 set limits on the vital capacity device, so that if a participant blows too hard, it won鈥檛 work.鈥?/p>

According to the artist, this is another expression of the limits of human ability. 鈥淚t is ironic how people consider themselves as powerful,鈥?explained the artist. 鈥淪ometimes, the 鈥榩ower鈥?we perceive to have is a complete illusion. In fact, it may even hurt us in some way.鈥?/p>

With thousands of little holes in the Plexiglas wall, if the unaware participant blows too hard, the smoke is forced out and the image dissipates.

鈥淭o be a man with too much power to some extent is the same as those who are disabled or don鈥檛 have enough, isn鈥檛 it?鈥?ponders the artist.

Byeong conceived the concept for the exhibition ten years ago. It was first exhibited in Chicago in 2004, and then across North America and Europe, each time a hit among exhibit goers, leaving them with a deep impression of the human perception of power.

鈥淓verybody is disabled in one way or another,鈥?says Byeong.

The exhibition is set to tour eastern Asia, with Japan as its next stop.