A(bsurd) and D(istortion)

荒誕與扭曲

我們經過新聞和世界連接。新聞每天在知識上，道德上，財政上，最終在情緒上衝擊我們的生活。這些國與國的關係之間的關係逐漸緊張，我們身為國民又無力應對。

我改裝了一支美國結他，他的頸部裝有兩個LCD觸碰屏幕，經過電腦收集的RSS 數據，LCD會以跑馬燈方式顯示實時的新聞，這些新聞和地緣政治、戰爭、關稅、能源等有關 。

巴哈的《Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring》本身是一首非常和諧和溫柔的眾讚歌，我邀請著名結他手 Alan Kwan 重新演繹，再使用音樂軟件跟據新聞數據進行實時拼湊和放大，旋律會變得渾亂無章，音質變得扭曲和不協調。和原來的樂曲相比，顯得更加荒誕和扭曲。

當彈奏結他時，屏幕會被觸碰而出現由軟件扭曲化的新聞圖片，這些畫面會以 #absurdanddistortion 標注發送到 X (Twitter)，最後又會以 rss 格式被電腦再收集，形成一個視覺回路，出現在結他屏幕之上。

作為裝置的一部份，地面上會有7支採訪麥克風，好像引頸上望，留意結他的一舉一動。

一部迷你電腦會放置在地上，外表模仿一個結他效果器，上面印上 Absurd and Distortion 的設計字體。

另外，由於保留了弦線、拾音器等發聲部份，只是指板被觸感LCD替代，它可以當成一支無琴桁結他(fretless guitar) 去彈奏。

We are connected to the world by news, everyday news has impacted our lives, in emotional, knowledge and financial ways, but there is very little we can do when the tension between countries increases.

I modified an American guitar by installing two touch LCD screens along its neck. Using RSS data collected by a computer, the LCDs display real‑time news in a marquee style; these stories concern geopolitics, war, tariffs, energy, and so on.

Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” is originally a very harmonious and gentle chorale. I invited renowned guitarist Alan Kwan to reinterpret the piece, and then used music software driven by real‑time news data to splice and amplify the performance. The melody becomes fragmented and chaotic, the timbre warped and dissonant — rendered more absurd and distorted compared with the original.

When the guitar is played, the screens are touched and software‑distorted news images appear; these images are tagged #absurdanddistortion and posted to X (Twitter), then re‑collected by the computer as RSS, creating a visual feedback loop that reappears on the guitar screens.

As part of the installation, seven interview microphones are placed on the floor, angled upward as if looking toward the neck, monitoring the guitar’s sound and performance.

A mini computer will sit on the floor disguised as a guitar effects pedal and printed with the Absurd and Distortion logotype.

Because the strings and pickups remain, with only the fretboard replaced by tactile LCDs, the instrument is fully playable as a fretless electric guitar.