Graduation Season at CAFA | Zhou Qida

Zhou Qida

Central Academy of Fine Arts Printmaking Dept. · The 2nd studio

Central Academy of Fine Arts Printmaking Dept. The 2nd studio

“The Drumming Clocks No.2”

“Time Elder Houla told Maomao, the soul exists to feel time, if the soul cannot feel time, then time is meaningless”.

—”Maomao”

Drumming Clocks No.2

Variable size

Box, microcontroller, clock core, sensor, pointer, white powder

Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum

2019

I had a strong time anxiety at one period, in my life, I always felt too much restrained by this invisible monster called time. The fast-paced life of the present and the inability to freely control my own physical body caused me great anxiety and fear. Modern society operates based on time, controlling the rhythm of life and survival for everyone, which led me to much reflection. Thus, I started to create art focusing on the element of time. My junior year installation project “Drumming Clocks” utilized 40 quartz clock cores and an arduino microcontroller as materials. I programmed the microcontroller to control the speed of the 40 quartz clocks, transforming the second we are accustomed to into my perception of a second, with different speeds: 20 seconds per turn; 14 seconds per turn; 10 seconds per turn; 5 seconds per turn; 3 seconds per turn; 1 second per turn; 1 second turns 3 times; 1 second turns 5 times. This transformed our perception of “one second”, and the different speeds produced rhythmic ticking sounds that intruded more forcefully into the audience’s auditory channel. The ticking sound of these clock cores is intrinsically linked to time itself; now, the rapidly moving hands and rhythmic ticking sound evoke different associations in the audience, prompting deep thoughts about this rhythm or facing the anxiety brought by noise.

-1-

After completing my first sound installation work in my junior year, I explored more possibilities and gained a deeper understanding of using ready-made materials. By matrixing the sound-producing materials, I enhanced the subtle sounds and listened to more nuanced sounds through the mechanical gears’ every second and sound, focusing on the finer sounds in life, reopening people’s connections with small objects in life, generating associations, and prompting different reflections.

-2-

“Drumming Clocks” emphasizes the sound itself, while in “Drumming Clocks No.2”, I added the material— the human body. When the audience enters the specific sound field of the work, the variables produced by the audience’s heart rate and expressions trigger changes in the rhythm of the sound, deepening the connection between the sound and the audience. The ticking sound of the clock, transformed from heart rate, similarly evokes some viewers’ reflections on life and time. Notably, during the adjustment of the sound rhythm, I made each group of clock cores slower than the previous group by 0.1 seconds. After several seconds, the rhythm of the ticking sound always becomes a harmony at one point, alternating between the individual and the whole, forming a clever rhythmic sound. While playing with these clock cores, I also found the organic connection between sound, movement, and vision; the second hand, in motion, presents a wonderful visual effect, which surprised me. Although due to the constraints of creation time and sound concepts, I couldn’t enhance the visual effect, it still produced unexpected results. Although these surprises contradict certain artistic methodologies, I hope my work can be interesting, allowing the audience to smile knowingly rather than being strongly “preachy” in educating the audience.

-3-

The meaning of the clock is strongly indicative; it is a timer, and of course, the clock also refers to a hollow resonator made of metal. In the Chinese market, quartz clocks have the highest sales. Before the popularity of mobile phones, almost every household had a quartz clock. The composition of a quartz clock is that the core is a sensor made of quartz crystal, and the working principle is the piezoelectric effect, where this quartz chip vibrates 14,318,180 times per second. This is how quartz clocks work, and their precision can reach one hundred-thousandth of a second. Although it seems very precise, after a year, there can be nearly six minutes of error, so they have now been replaced by more accurate electronic clocks, and they are rarely seen in households today, gradually becoming a thing of the past.

Drumming Clocks

Variable size

Clock core, microcontroller, pointer

Central Academy of Fine Arts Printmaking Dept. Exhibition Hall

2018

My family also used quartz clocks for many years; this is why I am very familiar and sensitive to this highly recognizable ticking sound, which relates greatly to my growing environment. Before high school, I lived in a very quiet environment, far from the highway. In the mornings, apart from the birds chirping, it was hard to hear other sounds, and at night, only the quartz clock hanging in my home would tick rhythmically. Most sleepless nights, I would listen to the ticking sound accompanying me until I gradually fell asleep. So when I thought about the theme of time and sound, this material of quartz clocks came to my mind.

-4-

The graduation project extends from the junior year course “Spatial Expansion of Printmaking Language”. Using the same materials as in junior year, I utilized the sound of quartz clock cores as materials, amplifying the sound in a matrix form. Presenting the seconds of the quartz clock in a deep spatial arrangement, combined with movement, the visual effects are also quite interesting. In the graduation project, I used two MEGA2560 R3 controllers, 144 quartz clock cores, MacBook Pro, camera, heart rate sensor, etc.

The construction elements of clocks, time, and human heart rhythms in Zhou Qida’s installation work allow people and objects to present the rhythm of heartbeats during the interaction process, visualizing the passage of life.

Zhou Jirong

Teacher at the Printmaking Dept. of Central Academy of Fine Arts

Professor

The rational conception and production of the work “Drumming Clocks” ultimately manifest a strong emotional color in the completed work. The author, through the transformation of quartz clocks and complex programming, makes a group of clock hands rotate rhythmically. When the audience faces this work, they will have an intuitive feeling about the different speeds of the moving clock hands and the rhythmic ticking sound. I believe every viewer will generate their own associations around the theme of ‘time’.

Zhang Zhandi

Teacher at the Printmaking Dept. of Central Academy of Fine Arts

Associate Professor