🚗 Project in Progress
Art labor radio show?
A old project, a new expression
Initially, I wanted to reveal the absurdity of my previous working environment and commemorate the precious friendships and solid support that helped us through the hard work. Although I wrote only one chapter of this story, the story shows how the separation between reality and the ideal world leads to painful feelings. After the third broadcast show, I realized I also wanted to critique the absurdity of today's system, where people are expected to maintain constant production without experiencing genuine life. I want to change my script to a radio show.
Sad Memory
I worked in an art institute four years ago, and I view those memories as a field research experience. I wrote a script about an artist's assistant based on my friends' and my own experiences. I merged various characters of my friends and 'art laborers,' trying to depict their mental state during rushed jobs. There exists a hierarchy in the Chinese art industry - the great outcomes always belong to star curators, artists, and directors, who consider this normal. However, what about the workers behind the scenes? Who are they? What are they doing?
The pandemic magnified all these existing problems in the art industry. During my time working there, we faced strict lockdown policies between 2020 and 2022. We could not leave our apartments and had to take Covid-19 Nucleic Acid PCR tests three times a day during the hardest period. We needed to maintain the art fair through their agenda, because one of our clients was the government and big companies. So many things changed in a day, sometimes because of policy, sometimes because the big boss felt unsatisfied. We had to work from home and modify the changes. We were tired of this situation.
Explosive Fuse
University students and young professionals across different industries shared the same feeling of being trapped in an absurd system. All the exhaustion and frustration exploded due to a accdent. This collective emotion led many young people to protest in what became known as the 'A4 Revolution'. Despite the government having the authority to control this situation and prevent such gatherings from happening again, people continued to meet. According to an 'official internal document' shared by my friend, the protesters were not only students but also many people from the cultural industry. They organized small gatherings to discuss through literature how absurd these policies were. After the A4 Revolution, the government sought to exercise more control over ideological matters, wanting obedient citizens rather than liberal thoughts. However, people wanted to express their desire for freedom through artistic expression. They found themselves living in a situation without liberty, feeling trapped in a prison built by 'the one and only correct thought'.
Ash
The reality is that no more protests have happened in China since then, and the art industry has become increasingly lifeless. Publishing has become more restricted, bookstores and art book fairs were forced to close due to various reasons, while avoiding any mention of the forbidden events. There are still some brave activists who express their politics under censorship and threats from the government. More and more young people have to make a decision: choose to stay silent or go abroad. The A4 paper was blown away and burned to ashes, fading in the wind.
Through this fictional story, I want to create an alternative ending, while also preserving and archiving these memories in a different way. It might be ash, but it could still nourish the land of imagination.
Story to Script, Script to Sound
I already adapted the story into an actable script, initially planning to make a short film. However, filmmaking would require high costs in equipment, actors, scenes, and staff. Micheal shared the laurence rassel show during the autum vacation, it inspired me to change it to a radio show format. It is more flexible and allowed me to experiment with various sound performances under ideal conditions. This format also allows me to complement my whole project with my article(Ghost Labor, Do AI dreams of Art labor?(part1)Do AI dreams of Art labor?(part2)The show must go on?(Clearify: All wrote in chinese no Chatgpt!))
About the script and radio project - When I asked Zuihui if she would like to join this project, she suggested taking it further and documenting all the work on a wiki page (which is what you're reading now). The core idea could be using sound to reveal the absurdity within contemporary work systems.
About the story itself, I asked [[1]](lensbase) about the script. She advised that I need to work more on completing the story first, saying it could be adapted to any format once I have a complete narrative.
But I want to work on it as soon as possible, because I promised Zuihui I would make a demo. Apparently, I'm not proficient enough to finish it on my own yet. I turned to Wang for guidance on using Ableton Live 12 for music composition.
All the problems will be solved by sound design processes(maybe not)
Sound Design Analysis
Primarily using electronic sound effects and experimental music elements to create an atmosphere where dreams and reality intertwine. Voice Processing: Using different sound effects for different characters to reflect their symbolic meaning in the plot Musical Elements: Using "半斤八两" + "Burning Down the House" as foundation, interpreted through electronic music variations Environmental Sound: Interweaving real office sounds with surreal sound design Spatial Audio: Using multi-channel mixing to create an immersive audio experience The audience should be able to experience the protagonist's mental state and emotional changes through sound. Need to pay attention to mixing layers and progressive sound processing, and how to express the protagonist's state of drifting between reality and dreams through sound.
Scene-by-Scene Duration Analysis:
Opening Sequence (about 3 minutes)
Environmental sound establishment (30 seconds)
"半斤八两" electronic music variation (trying dubstep genre mixed with crowd sounds) (1 minute)
Digital display sound effects layered with text reading (1-2 minutes)
Dream Gallery Scene (about 4-5 minutes)
Spatial atmosphere establishment (1 minute)
Dream Gallery —> Opening space, dance, speech, near-far feeling, (echo)
Dance crowd sounds and music (2 minutes)
Transition to forum scene (1-2 minutes)
Forum Scene (about 5-6 minutes)
Host and guest dialogue (2-3 minutes)
Sound processing and environmental effects (2 minutes)
Emotional gradual change process (1 minute)
Reality and Dream Interweaving (about 30-45 seconds): Voice variation + environmental sounds
Office environmental sounds (2 minutes): Renovation sounds
Conflict scene and sound overlay (5 minutes)
Emotional outbreak segment (2-3 minutes)
Night Ending Scene (about 5-6 minutes)
Convenience store scene (2-3 minutes)
Final music and dance scene (2-3 minutes)
Total Estimated Duration: 20-25 minutes
Sound Material References
Possession — Opętanie 1-6 Psychological changes in daily situations/light->eerie/electronic piano+shaker+marimba/different playing styles of same melody/delay+slow down+change instruments+increase frequency of certain sounds
Millennium Mambo — A Pure Person Intro heavy+nostalgic memory feeling/voice modulation+slicing+saxophone large reverb+release/saxophone+percussion pad+bass
Album Percussion with Clock Sense of time urgency/fast rhythm+clock hand sounds (electronic clock? physical clock) slicing+percussion pad+page turning sounds+keyboard+pressing ballpoint pen sounds+crisp sounds
Arrangement References: 骊歌 — Penglai Mt.: 白鸽 + Three Little Birds/backbeat rhythm+reggae (Expressionism) Schoenberg expresses anxiety (Pointillism) Webern expresses rational disorder and dissociation, but still within framework
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1of53bLgPK4gwScjlrONNW
Sound Board Pratice
13/11-17/11 I tried to record the dialogue with TTS, I was unsatisfied with the outcome, it lacked of emotional frustration. If I want to make it more drama, I should record it by my own, and use voice changer to distinguish charactor in the script.
Progress Rate
Dialogue：30%
Soundscape：0%
BGM：0%
Local Narrow Web
I have always wanted to make a website to archive my previous work and documentaries. I needed to find motivation to do such things, and I got inspired by HTML Club! I practiced various design formats with Manetta. She suggested we find references and inspect their code to copy them. I started to learn coding formats through practice. I tried to combine "面相图" (face reading) with my work. Chinese parents always want their children to have a good life, so they calculate their fortunes - every mark on our faces has a certain meaning. My father learnt Feng Shui, and calculated my future, he said that I will be working until I die, and I have to keep working to get a better life. This made me think about the topic of "labor". I combined my personality with my previous works, hoping to give them meaning.