What Is The Sound Of One Hand Clapping? (Radio Edit)

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What is the sound of one hand clapping? (Radio Edit)
by Chong Li-Chuan

Part of Mixtape vol 32 - Side A & Side B,
an online exhibition as part of SeptFest 2022: uproot | rootless (1 - 30 September 2022)

What Is The Sound Of One Hand Clapping? is a response to SeptFest's themes of loss, fluidity, and resilience. As the title suggests, this is a work that alludes to the fleeting nature of sound and the relationship born out of field recordings, digital audio manipulation, and the resultant of a soundscape composition, serving as a meditation on the environmental sounds at 45 Armenian Street in the wake of The Substation moving out of its former premises. Akin to the traditional Zen kōan (公案) of the same name – what is the sound of one hand clapping – the work functions as "the object being sought and the relentless seeking itself"¹, like the renewal of The Substation and the continuation of its role in experimental arts programming in Singapore beyond the physical building.

¹“Translating the Zen Phrase Book” by G. Victor Sõgen Hori (p.51, Nanzan Bulletin 23, 1999)

Field recording on 3 August 2022, 8:33 AM at 45 Armenian Street, Singapore (Photo credit: Chong Li-Chuan)

Field recording on 5 August 2022, 11:26 PM at 45 Armenian Street, Singapore (Photo credit: Chong Li-Chuan)

Behind-the-scenes footage by Lizzie Wee
Watch the full video by Lizzie accompanying the soundscape composition by Chong Li-Chuan at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hsctu7z0s0