Waterfall Piano - Calm During the Storm 《流水鋼琴 - 暴風雨中的寧靜》, 2023

Interactive digital installation, free form of light strips, piano keyboard, wooden board with gloss finishing, computer, granite stone

互動數位裝置、自由形式長條燈管、鋼琴鍵盤、光面木底板、電子計算機、花崗岩 Board 底板 160 x 70 x 10 cm | Light strips 長條燈管 400 cm Edition 3 plus 2 AP

On September 7, 2023, a rain storm beyond anything witnessed before turned Hong Kong into a water city. When the artist left his studio in the middle of the night, navigating his way home was an adventure. The hillside next to his place of work had turned into a waterfall, and the water level was two feet high already and showed no sign of stopping. Fortunately, he was able to escape eventually, driving away with only light damage to his vehicle.

This work continues to explore human emotions in the context of technology and in the face of nature, leveraging the facets of the piano as a musical instrument and a computer-human interface.

Usually, nature is calming and technology is frustrating, but nature can be rough and very unforgiving. The piano plays back a modified sound sample of the rainstorm continuously by itself until someone interrupts and play on the keyboard, making a calm sound.

Two stones retrieved from the rainstorm debris are used in the artwork.