P8•八音: multichannel sound installation with video projection, objects, and wall painting

PerMagnus Lindborg et al. (2021). Site-specific sound installation with wall painting and video projection. Commissioned by Osage Gallery for the exhibition I am always here, curated by Rodrigo Guzman-Serrano, 24 July – 22 August 2021.
Underlining the concept of八音 bayin is the ancient Chinese way of thinking about eight tones or sonic characteristics in relation to specific categories of physical materials: leather/hide, clay, metal, stone, gourd, wood, silk, and bamboo. The tones and materials are also linked to the eight cardinal directions on a compass. The eight-channel soundtrack is based on “Pieces of Eight – 八音”, a composition made jointly by PerMagnus Lindborg and Joyce Beetuan Koh for the ESKYIU PlayKits retrospective exhibition and performance in November 2018 at the ArtisTree, Tai Koo. In P8•八音, the material is performed by eight musicians from the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble (HKNME): Loo Sze Wang (shēng), Charles Ng (saxophone), KAISAN (guqín, xiao), Ho Yi On and Matthew Lau (percussion), Jackie Tang (violin), Joelion Keung (viola), and Simon Hui (double bass). Recordings were made on site by Neri Min, Yong Rong Zhao, Älvi Weiyu Lindborg-Koh, PerMagnus Lindborg, and Joyce Beetuan Koh [SOUNDISLANDS], supported by Matthew Lau, Sheeta Ng, Matt Hui, Austin Leung, and William Lane [HKNME]. Each musician and technical team went to one of eight carefully selected locations around Hong Kong, where they adapted their performance of the composition to the prevailing acoustic environment at the location – a nature trail, a busy commuter point, a construction site, a boat in the harbour – by imitating and dialoguing with people’s voices, animals, and other sound sources in the environment. Soundscape recordings were also made at the eight locations.