A Courtyard Conversation, or a Zoetological Approach to the Thinking of Things

Claudia Westermann, Yiping Dong, and Lei Feng

Inserted into the entrance to a small courtyard inhabited by four families in Haiyan village, Kunming, China, the work Symphony of the Everyday—Sunset Sonata employs subtle interventions in the form of light, sound and kinetic objects to reveal the aesthetic dimension of everyday objects and materials. Technology is often seen to be in competition with heritage and tradition—frequently threatening it to the point of elimination for a new, smarter world. Symphony of the Everyday—Sunset Sonata, however, suggests that technology can be employed to spark a conversation on the meaning of heritage in everyday life. Grounded in cybernetic conversation theory, the installation uses interactive technology to serve aesthetic experience.

Symphony of the Everyday—Sunset Sonata reveals the role of architecture as a means of constructing an enriched life and renders the objects and materials that make up a village household’s everyday tangible in their aesthetic dimension. Activated by the movement of the visitors, playing in the presence of the setting sun, the kinetic objects and their sounds engage in a new conversation on the possibilities of technology to nurture a community’s heritage and values.

The presentation introduces the installation Symphony of the Everyday—Sunset Sonata and contextualises it, linking Gordon Pask’s concept of conversation to Roger T. Ames’ zoetology, a term used to differentiate traditional Chinese philosophy from the ontological thinking dominant in the Western world.

KEYWORDS: conversation theory, zoetology, cybernetics, public art, interactive art, everyday aesthetics, rural revitalisation, Dianchi, China

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