From composition, electronics, and installations to organic materials, the journey to discovering that all living creatures carry different electrical signals was amazing. Exploring the uniqueness of individual performers, body, and spatial perception, everything was an amazing journey. In 2021, I planted moringa seeds on the fifth floor of the NTT. From these seeds, trees grew and accompanied me throughout my residency, inspiring my work.
Qualia aims to explore the uniqueness of nature and appreciate the primitive and pure individual by exploring the originality of the performer's body and sound. There is no specific role to play on stage, and the only correct way to perform is to express one's own language honestly. However, playing oneself is actually more difficult than playing a predetermined role. This journey is a long road to rediscovering oneself.
Initially, we relied heavily on improvisation based on the textual score within the composition framework, with observation and discussion to guide us. However, as the project progressed, we realized that accurate musical scores were necessary. Therefore, we shifted towards a more music score-guided approach to clarify and execute the performers' movements and sound reactions. This approach required performers to read the score in atypical postures, such as lying on the ground, which proved to be extremely challenging.
Interactive programming plays an important role in this work. Real-time sound is produced by the performers' body movements, and it will vary depending on their body language. While installations and computer devices may seem cold, the triggering source is always human beings, just as musical instruments cannot produce music without human hands, interactive devices cannot produce sound without performers' bodies.
The initial intention for creation is to reach people. The audience feels the idea of a piece in the theatre, then digest it, and reflects on the future perception. The exploration of individual uniqueness in "Quality" may be seen everywhere in life, but it may ignore or forgotten in this busy environment. Music and body language may be too abstract to understand at first, but the imagination is unlimited, as touching music is beyond description, the vibration of energy, the emotion of the listener, the compound comprehension mixed with interpretation and individuality.
Not only has the Moringa tree project been supported by NTT, but Qualia has also received significant support during my residency. It is an honor to see this work come to life in the Playhouse, and I am grateful for NTT's strong support. Theater works are always created by a group of people, so everyone who participated in this project has been my benefactor. I am immensely grateful for this opportunity and for having such a strong team.
從作曲、電聲、裝置到有機介質，發現所有生命體各承載著不同的電訊號，再到探索不同表演者的獨特性，身體以及空間感知，一切是個驚喜的旅程。2021年開始在歌劇院五樓涵洞種植小樹苗，從種子發芽茁壯至小樹，一路陪伴著駐館製作，也影響著作品。
《感質》這作品想探究自然的獨特性，藉由挖掘表演者的身體/聲音本質，去欣賞最原始純粹的個體。在舞台上不演任何角色，也沒正確的演奏方式，而是要誠實展現自己的語言；然而演自己其實比演特定角色更為困難，這是一條漫長重新認識自我的道路。
工作初期我們於作品架構下，文本（文字譜）進行了大量的即興，反覆地觀察和討論；中後期發現精確的樂譜於我的創作脈絡下是需要的，因此作品最終還是採用了嚴謹的記譜，為了能將時間內發生的動作與聲音更明確地設計執行。表演者在排練中辛苦地以非典型的姿態（如趴地煉石堆中）閱讀樂譜，挑戰性極高。
互動技術在這作品佔了十分重要的角色，即時驅動的聲響，會因為表演者的身體語言而產生不同的回饋。裝置和電腦語言看似冰冷，但驅動的來源始終來自於人，就如樂器未經人手無法發聲，互動裝置或影像偵測未經人的觸發也無法發聲。
創作的原始初衷是希望能觸及人群，觀眾進到劇場中感受到作品的意念，再反思至未來的感知。《感質》要探究的個體獨特性也許在生活隨處可見，只是在忙碌的環境中時常被忽略或遺忘了。抽象的音樂與肢體語言也許不如具象的故事情節來得易懂，然而給予的想像空間卻是無限；如音樂動人之處常常是無以言喻，是空氣能量的震盪，複雜的聽者情緒，個體的理解詮釋交織而成。
無論在種植小樹或作品所需的協助，歌劇院在駐館期間均給予了強大的支援，能看到這作品在中劇院誕生是無比的喜悅。劇場是由一群人團結凝聚而讓作品發生，參與這作品的所有人都是我的貴人，很感恩能有歌劇院駐館的機緣與如此強大的團隊。