Resonant Embodiments: Listening to the Transcultural Body

Abstract

‘Qicapes 氣穴音景 (2022-) and Pulse Project (2011-2017) are cross-disciplinary research series exploring sound, embodiment, medicine, and cross-cultural science. These projects reimagine East Asian medicine in digital performance, crafting immersive audio environments connecting bodies and surroundings. Qiscapes investigate qi 氣 within the body using the ‘acupunctosonocope’, amplifying acupuncture and detecting ‘qi’ flow. It evidences qi, which is thought not to exist. Pulse Project creates sonic interfaces, translating Chinese pulse diagnosis and acupuncture point location practices into immersive ‘qi’ soundscapes, revealing the Chinese medicine body in all. These interfaces are developed to measure quantum entanglements in individuals and their environments. Through traversing art and medicine, these projects present a cosmological model of body-lifeworld relationship beyond the biomedical model.’