Installation View, Foam 3h, 2020
Curated by Kim Knoppers; co-produced with Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten
Special thanks to Stephan Kuderna, Kees Reedijk, Pieter Verweij, Arend Nijkamp, Janneke Schrage
Hearing ranges of humans, cats and bats.
Foam 3h: Sheng-Wen Lo - Extendable Ears
21 February - 28 June 2020
In many of his projects, Lo discusses the relationship between humans and non-humans in contemporary societies. In Extendable Ears, he created a wearable device that enabled him to hear ultrasound waves in the way that some pets do.
foam.org/shengwenlo
Video by Zeeger Verschuren
This exhibition is made possible with the support of the Van Bijlevelt Stichting and the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten.
Foam is supported by the BankGiro Loterij, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, City of Amsterdam, Foam Members, Olympus and the VandenEnde Foundation.
Recorded Ultrasound Spectrum
In this figure, anything above 20 (kHz) are inaudible ultrasound. Recorded near ARTIS zoo, the Netherlands.
Wearable Ultrasound Transformer
This device transforms ultrasound (20-70Khz) to an audible range.
Constructed with: Kees Reedijk (werkplaats elektronica, Rijksakademie)
ARTIS Zoo, the Netherlands
Delta Works, The Netherlands
Kinderdijk, The Netherlands
In flight (AMS-TPE)
Dinner with mother and sister, Taiwan
Liuho Night Market, Taiwan
Canaan Dental Clinic, Taiwan
Sleep-time Recordings, 24th June
Sleep-time Recordings, 2019
Recorded from June 17 - July 17, 2019
Dream Diary, 19-20 June, 2019
Dream Diary
Extendable Ears - Foam Fotografiemuseum
Time-lapse video of the installation.
Installation View (ii), Foam 3h, 2020
Curated by Kim Knoppers; co-produced with Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten
Extendable Ears
伸縮耳 2019-2020
Exhibitions: Foam Fotografiemuseum, 21 Feb.-28 June
Noorderlicht Photo Festival, 18 Jul.-20 Sep.
Synchronised lights/photo/video/ultrasound installation, documents; dimensions variable
While living with friends, I realised ‘noise’ is subjective: what’s music for me may be torturing for others. Likewise, noise is species-dependent: animals including dogs, cats, bats and insects can hear ultrasound (frequency above 20 KHz) beyond human’s hearing range.
However, the fact that we could not hear ultrasound does not prevent us from producing it: we use appliances, tools and vehicles — the manufactures of which only measure operation noises in ‘audible’ frequency range.
I wondered — Am I producing ultrasound noises unintentionally which annoys other species [1]? Am I living in ultrasound-rich societies? To find out, I made a wearable device which transforms ultrasound (20~70 KHz) to audible ranges, allowing my ears to register sound frequencies similar to cats [2].
I decided to wear this device for one month (24/7) [3], feeding ultrasound noise to my ears to see if I will go crazy. Surprisingly, I found myself staring to have bizarre dreams; I recorded them in a diary.
Special thanks to:
- All warm hearted fellow artists, advisors, doctors and my family for concerning my welfare as a human during the experiment of 'Extendable Ears'.
- Kees Reedijk (werkplaats elektronica, Rijksakademie)
- Dr. HHF (Bert) Derkx (resident scientist, Rijksakademie)
[1] Sales, G. D., et al. "Environmental ultrasound in laboratories and animal houses: a possible cause for concern in the welfare and use of laboratory animals." Laboratory Animals 22.4 (1988): 369-375.
[2] Cats can detect a broad range of frequencies. They can hear higher-pitched sounds than humans or most dogs, detecting frequencies from 55 Hz up to 79 kHz.
[3] From June 17 - July 17; two weeks in the Netherlands, two weeks in Taiwan. Flight on July 4.
- 空間裝置、同步影音、超聲波喇叭與麥克風、文件，尺寸可變
日前與朋友同住時，我發現「噪音」的概念很主觀：我耳中的音樂可能折磨別人，反之亦然。我不禁聯想到，噪音感知也因物種而異：貓、狗、蝙蝠、昆蟲等生物可以聽到高於人耳極限，超過 20KHz的「超聲波」。
然而，我們雖聽不到超聲波，但我們會製造超聲波：我們生活中會使用家電、工具、載具，但製造商頂多量測其運作時「人類可聽見」的噪音量。
我很好奇 — 我是否經常不自覺地製造煩擾其他物種的超聲波[1]？我是否生活在充滿超聲波、以人的觀點思考噪音的社會裡？因此，我實作了一部可以轉換超聲波(~50 KHz)至可聞聲波的機器，讓我除了原有的聽覺外，疊加上貓可聽聞的聲響頻域[2]。
2019年夏天，我持續穿戴這部機器一個月（日夜不間斷）[3]，聽著環境中的超聲波，看看我是否會發瘋。讓我訝異的是，我發現自己晚上開始作怪異的夢；於是我把這些夢寫在一本夢記中。
[1] Sales, G. D., et al. "Environmental ultrasound in laboratories and animal houses: a possible cause for concern in the welfare and use of laboratory animals." Laboratory Animals 22.4 (1988): 369-375.
[2] 貓耳可感知廣泛的頻域，高過人類與大部分的狗（55Hz 至 79kHz）。
[3] 6月17日至7月17日，兩週於荷蘭，兩週於台灣；飛航於7月4日。