Chapter 2 – Drawings with sounds
Listen With Incense: Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Hong Kong
2024
Mirror version of drawings
The point of listening back is not to distinguish each sonic sign, but encouraging us to think about and perceive in addition to the sounds we can hear, there are also sounds we cannot hear. One of the incense trees I selected was felled, yet rather than succumbing to demise, numerous new branches grow from the remaining parts; two other incense trees, while yet untouched by harm, are firmly surrounded by iron fences to prevent damage by poachers, nevertheless, fresh branches continue to extend and emerge through the interstices of the wire mesh. Whether it’s resistance to thunderstorms, adaptation to the noise generated by human activities, or renewal after being hurt or imprisoned, it’s difficult to hear or record these sounds. I hope each viewer can hear “the sounds we cannot hear” through the drawings, which describe the incense trees’ endeavour to establish its connection with the surrounding world.
重新傾聽錄音的意義並不是為了去識別每個聲音的特徵，而是鼓勵我們去思考和感知除了我們可以聽到的聲音還有那些我們聽不到的聲音。這四幅畫中的其中一棵沉香樹的一大半枝幹已經被砍伐，但它並沒有死亡，而是從殘存的枝幹上長出來很多新的枝條；還有兩棵沉香樹雖然沒有人為破壞的痕跡，但它們也被鐵絲網牢牢圍住來防止偷盜者，儘管如此，新的枝條還是不斷穿過鐵絲網的縫隙生長著。不管是對雷暴天氣的抵抗，對人類活動中產生噪音的適應，還是在受到傷害和囚禁後煥發的一種新生，我們都很難去聽到或錄到這些聲音，我希望每一個觀眾透過畫面去聽到沉香樹努力與周圍環境建立聯繫的不同訴說。
CHENG YANG 