Prepare yourself for “Traversing (In)Difference Inn”!
At the end of 2022, TheCube Project Space organized the first-ever “Sonic Shaman: TheCube Forum Music Festival” in Taiwan, a groundbreaking trans-disciplinary music festival conceptualized with curatorial thought and thematic focus. It quickly became a focal point in the cultural and artistic community. As a creative form of in-depth international artistic exchange in the post-pandemic world, “Sonic Shaman” broke through the conventional frameworks of music festivals, daringly blending independent bands, lectures, experimental sound, music, and visual art into an innovative trans-disciplinary event.
From November 23, 30, and December 1, 2024, TheCube Project Space will host the second edition of the “Sonic Shaman.” Returning on a larger scale with more experimentation and in-depth exploration, the event will feature more than 40 bands, artists, musicians, scholars, and literary figures from Taiwan and abroad. It will take place at two distinct and highly-contrast venues: Auspic Paper, an organic industrial-style space in the urban jungle of New Taipei City, and Jut RS289, a building designed by renowned Japanese architect Jun Aoki in Taipei’s Dazhi district.
In addition to continuing with the independent bands, experimental sound, electronic music, lecture performances, and visual art from the first edition, The 2024 “Sonic Shaman” will introduce richer and dynamic forms of performance. The curatorial theme for this edition is “Traversing (In)Difference Inn”. Divided into five chapters, it will integrate performance art, dance, short film screenings, installations, and more to push the boundaries of sound, performance, and art.
The curatorial theme is what distinguishes “Sonic Shaman” from other music festivals. This year’s theme, “Traversing (In)Difference Inn” reflects on the isolation, difference, and indifference driven by contemporary technology, and attempts to explore how music and performance rituals can create spaces for different groups to connect, communicate, and listen to one another. The theme is divided into five chapters: “Mediated Life,” “Difference Inn,” “Islands of Listening,” “The Tapestry of Perception,” and “Ocean of Sound.” These chapters will be reflected in the different venues, performance context, and sensual experiences of the festival.
Curatorial Theme: Traversing (In)Difference Inn
The theme of the 2024 Sonic Shaman Music Festival is “Traversing (In)Difference Inn”, exploring the current phenomenon of “echo chambers” and unfolding into five sub-concepts. These thematic concepts will serve as the basis for the festival’s visual aesthetics, spatial planning, stage design, and program context. Participating artists are invited to create and perform works around these themes:
1. Mediated Life
In today’s world, where the boundaries between the internet and real life have blurred, media has become the primary way through which people perceive themselves, others, and the world. Screens, the cloud, algorithms, and artificial intelligence quietly lead us into isolated “rooms,” immersing us in personalized streams of information. In such an environment, dialogue becomes more difficult, and genuine communication is increasingly cut off.
2. Difference Inn
The late internet activist and thinker Shih-Chieh Ilya Li (1973-2019) pointed out, “As our world becomes increasingly mediated by technology, social media’s echo chambers have divided people.” Differences have turned into isolation, and indifference and alienation have become the norm. Each of us lives in a separate room within a “Difference Inn,” isolated in our own thoughts and cultures, indifferent to others.
3. Islands of Listening
Though Difference Inn isolates our bodies and minds, Shih-Chieh Ilya Li posed a question: can listening provide a way to break through these invisible walls? Sound, like waves in the ocean, can cross the distance between our isolated islands, creating new connections and understanding. In this flood of information, can sound become the bridge for us to reconnect, transforming isolation into opportunities for interaction?
4. Tapestry of Perception
The voices of difference may seem like broken notes. In the digital age, each of our voices may feel insignificant, but these fragments together form a complex tapestry of perception. As we begin to perceive these different voices, noise and chaos gradually weave into a broader whole. This seemingly disordered sonic tapestry may represent the true appearance of this complex world. By perceiving and understanding these voices from different rooms and backgrounds, we can piece together a more complete worldview.
5. Ocean of Sound
British sound artist David Toop, in his 1995 publication Ocean of Sound, opposed the categorization of music into genres and advocated for a more holistic listening approach that embraces all sounds from the world. He believed that after the 20th century, “the acceleration of communication and cultural confrontation became the focus of musical expression.” He noted that “many of these sounds remain fragments; some fragments are shaped into spells or other solid structures.” In his book, he predicted our current listening experience: “Over the past century, music, as a fluid, non-verbal, and non-linear medium, has continuously expanded, preparing us for the electronic ocean of the 21st century. As the world becomes an ocean of information, music surrounds us. Listeners float in this ocean, while musicians become virtual travelers, curators of sound theaters, and transmitters of all the network’s signals.” This listening mindset is not only a new exploration of music and sound but also an open attitude toward navigating difference. Art and sound guide us as we float and sail in this ocean of information, seeking connection with each other.
