MUSICAL WORKS

CHENG Chien-Wen / 鄭建文

2004

Samsara / 輪迴

Birth Y: 1972 Birth C: TAIWAN Gender: Male

Dest: Concert

Media Specification: Tape with video

Duration: 6'

Media: https://youtu.be/Zafrt0b6Ak0

Prog. notes: Samsara means “cycle of existence” (cycle of life and death) in Buddhism and Hinduism, where life is nothing but an illusion (maya), and the material world is a place fragmented and constantly changing through the repeated process of formation, existence, destruction, and emptiness.

In the accompanying video, the same footage of flowers is repeatedly used through the distortion, reposition, and rotation of the pixels sampled from the original images. This helps to achieve visual coherence. The different scenes are arranged in a special order to represent the repeated life and death of flowers, symbolizing the endless cycle of birth, age, illness, and the death of all creatures.

In the music, sound samples of water drops, the traditional Chinese bamboo flute, and the Chinese zither are used mainly through the techniques of convolution and granular synthesis to create a dreamy ambiance and to symbolize the fleeting and illusionary life. Besides, pentatonic scales are also intentionally applied to create the mysterious impression of oriental religion and philosophical thinking.

影像與音樂結合之數位作品Samsara，以藝術的手法呈現佛教「輪迴」的概念，以花開花落、夕陽西下、烈火、灰燼、水波等意象，表達凡人眼中所能感受或觸摸的萬事萬物，其實都逃不了「成、住、壞、空」的過程，而此生或許曾有過絕美的一刻或叱吒風雲的一時，也不過如幻象一般，疾逝如旋開旋滅、方生方死的水波。

在影片的處理上，主要使用花開花落的影片片段為軸心素材，運用各種數位影像特效的處理，將其透過扭曲（distortion）、重置（reposition）、旋轉（rotation）及光影的特殊處理來重新呈現，以期達到藝術的集中性（coherence）。每個場景也經過特別的順序安排與連接表達生、老、病、死無盡的循環。

在音樂處理上，則將水滴、中國笛、古箏等聲音，透過音色互融（convolution）、粒子化合成（granular synthesis）等技術，來營造夢幻般的氣氛及表達生命的虛幻短暫。五聲音階也被刻意運用其中，以營造東方宗教哲學之神秘色彩。

Editor: MB

Phono: MIT Computer Music Journal Sound and Video Anthology (Vol 31: 4), USA, 2007.