(the.whole.picture) (2021-2022)
For band and video
"During the Christmas holidays in 2019, I went on a trip to China with Fei, my partner at the time. We visited her hometown Beihai and its surroundings in the Guanxi province, as well as Shanghai. I brought a sound recorder with me and did some field recordings during the trip.
I decided I would make a piece based on those field recordings, where the music is built upon the original sound instead of silence. Like painting on top of an existing picture.
These recordings had become precious memories for me and when I shared them with my friends from haknam, they became like little stories. I wanted them to tell those stories back at me with their instruments, in guided semi-improvised sessions. My composition process would be then to rearrange and build upon their sounds in a way I would see fit. And then, finally, each musician would retranscribe the final piece in their own way in a shared graphical score. I wanted it to feel like everything should come from each musician’s own voice.
You cannot tell someone else’s story. When you do, it’s already your own."
Xavier Bonfill
I (arcade)
Field recording from an arcade in a mall in Beihai. Recorded on December 26th, 2019. Found texts in Mandarin and in English
請排隊
請排
Please stand in line
Please stand…
咪噠miniK採用專業
Mida miniK’s professional features
1P 玩家 請看
Player 1 please look…!
It’s like a karaoke bar
麥克風
microphone
are you gonna sing?
I don't...
are you gonna sing?
I don't know how to sing it
oh if you're not gonna sing I cannot…
是廣州愛美網絡科
Is GuangZhou AIMEI internet technology...
shh I don't know, ok we'll...
nå-OK!
they're falling now ok ok that's that's cool
nå-OK!
it's like transposed it's killing my brain!
I don't hear a thing!
it's like transposed it's killing my brain!
killing my brain!
hoo hoo! you missed them all!
we are not competitive
are we not?
II (island)
Field recording from a walk around Weizhou Island. Recorded on December 24th, 2019. Found texts in Mandarin and local language.
(in Mandarin)
因為思念時光走得匆匆
月光輕輕 把夢帶走 所有失眠的夜想你夠不夠
Because of longing, time flies by
The moonlight gently takes away the dream, will my sleepless nights missing you be enough
看雲水漂流 看著落葉被帶走
淚濕的枕頭 枕乾潮濕的溫柔
等到下一個春秋 等到秋葉被紅透
讓那指針慢慢走 停在花開的時候
不是因為寂寞才想你
只是因為想你才寂寞
當淚流下的時候 所有風景都沈默
Watching the clouds and water drifting, watching the fallen leaves being taken away
The tear-wet pillow, the pillow daps the tears tenderly
Wait until the next spring and autumn, wait until the autumn leaves are completely red
Let the pointer move slowly and stop when the flowers bloom
I miss you not because I'm lonely
I'm lonely just because I miss you
When tears flow down, all the scenery is silent
呃， 好冷
erh, so cold!
嘿，等一下
hey, wait!
基本上都會這樣啊
that’s how it is in general…
回不回去，回不回去他（她）還不是一樣，就是來了又走了
Whether to go back or not, whether to go back or not it will be the same for them, they just come and go
換我怎能心甘
How can I be willing to change
(in local language)
重某？
什麼？
Is it heavy?
what？
(in Mandarin)
也是貴的要命， 哈哈哈哈
對唄，少一千二十。哈哈哈哈
It’s also expensive, hahahaha
That's right, one thousand and twenty less. hahahah
八點，還可以啦
Eight o'clock, okay
(in local language)
多一隻哇，等陣7點鐘開門係某？
係
One more, do you open at 7 o'clock?
Yes
以某試試白斬鴨喂，白斬鴨
Why don’t you try the poached Duck, the poached Duck
正常某有十蚊子一斤肉啊？
Isn’t it normally ten yuan for half a kilogram of meat?
家下返佢了。
家下返佢啦？ 關門啊
I am going home
Are you going home? Close the door.
哎呀，好生意吶！
Oh, good business!
(in Mandarin)
搭車嗎？帥哥
do you need a ride, mate?
Field recording from a choir singing at the catholic church in Weizhou Island. Recorded on December 25th, 2019. Language / text from the choir is unknown.
is it always
the last place
that you look?
would you rather still
go on searching
just in case?
was it cut into pieces?
was it all-in-one?
what's it like
to see it all
from the inside
from the outside
does it feel like you?
does it feel like then?
does it feel like
it could be true?
from the inside
from the outside
is it always
the last place
that you look?
would you rather still
go on searching
just in case?
was it cut into two, three, maybe four pieces?
or was it all-in-one?
IV (bund)
Story about New Year’s Eve 2019/2020 in Shanghai. Text in Catalan, Cantonese and Italian.
那天夜晚，
我哋喺灘边
we were by the river that night
eravamo sul fiume quella notte
上百
上千
人
us two and hundreds
of thousands
of other people
aquella nit
我哋都喺嗰度
等着
and we were all there
waiting
a la vora del riu
某件事發生
for something to happen
era soffocante
l’assenza di spazio,
il contatto di vestiti
il sudore e la pelle di sconosciuti che spingevano attraverso la folla
polizia militare ad ogni angolo
it was suffocating:
the lack of space
the touch of textile
the sweat and skin of strangers pushing through the crowd
military police in every corner
sense parpellejar
senza battere ciglio
montagne di gente
oceani di gente
not blinking a single time
people-mountain
people-sea
人海
come si suol dire
as they say
正如佢哋所講
al nostre costat
edificis art deco
a l’altre costat
on our side of the river:
art deco buildings
on the other side:
摩天大樓
gratacels
en mig, el riu
una frontera
o una frontissa
skyscrapers
the river in between:
either a border
or a bridge
o un ponte tra il passato ed il futuro
entre el passat i el futur
between the past and the future
“quina hora és?”
mires el mòbil
les onze i cincuanta-set
“what time is it?”
You look at your phone
eleven fifty-seven
后来
再醍唛时间
已经過咗1分鐘
the next time
that either of us checks the time again
it’s already 1 minute past
ma niente è cambiato
但一切都某改變
but nothing had changed
centenars
上百
just hundreds,
de milers,
上千
人
推過人群
試圖得到個好嘅視野
去醍嗰会发生嘅事
of thousands
of people
pushing through the crowd
trying to get a good view
of whatever that was supposed to be happening
dos minuts més tard
i un grup sembla adonar-se
de que l’Any Nou fa ja tres minuts que ha arribat
així que treuen els mòbils
per a compartir-ho i celebrar-ho amb el món
a couple minutes later
a small group seems to realise
that the New Year had been with us for some good three minutes
so they take their phones out to share and celebrate with the world
come se stesse succedendo proprio lì
com si estigués passant
as if it were happening
系囖
en aquell precís moment
right then
边嗰知啧?
qui se’n podria adonar?
deu
how would anyone else know?
ten
十
dieci
nou
nine
nove
九
vuit
eight
otto
八
七
set...
seven...
sette
sei
six
六
sis
mezzanotte e sei minuti
e qualche timido fascio di luce
da entrambi i lati del fiume
per un paio di minuti a seguire
minutes past midnight
and a few lights flash timidly
on either sides of the river,
for the next couple minutes
i... això va ser tot
and that was all there was
失望
我哋返返酒店
路上同其他人一起
上百
上千
人
都意識到
disappointed
we go back to the hotel
around the same time as other
hundreds
of thousands
of people
that also realised
che nient’altro sarebbe successo,
就係巩啦
嚒也都某
嚒也都，
唔会发生
係時候
返返去了
that that was it
that there was nothing else to see
that nothing else was going to happen
and that it was time
to go back
a allà d’on haguessin vingut
各自嘅归处
to wherever they came from
uns dies després
vam veure el vídeo oficial
que les autoritats locals havien distribuït als canals de televisió internacionals
documentant
el que deien
que va passar aquella nit:
hi havia milers de drones sobrevolant el riu
fent formes i coses
a few days later
we saw the official video
that the local authorities had distributed to TV networks around the world
documenting
what they said
happened that night:
there were thousands of drones flying over the river making shapes and stuff
facendo coreografie
un home caminant en mig de l’aire
i d'altres coses impressionants
de les quals ja ni m’enrecordo
a man walking on air
and some other flashy things
I already forgot about
发唔发生过
fins a quin punt és rellevant que fos realitat o ficció?
does it make a difference whether it actually happened or not?
è importante se è successo veramente o no?
當然
我哋唔係
唯一注意到的人
謠言開始流傳
of course,
we were not
the only ones who noticed,
and rumours started circulating
le autorità hanno risposto alle accuse
the authorities responded to those claims
话
dicendo che i video
saying that the video
pregravat
fossero di una prova pre-registrata due giorni prima di capodanno
e che sarebbe dovuto essere così
was from a rehearsal prerecorded two days before New Year’s eve
and that it had to be that way
預先錄製嘅
perchè non volevano rischiare
che centinaia di migliaia di persone
si sarebbero agitate
because they didn’t want to risk
that hundreds of thousands of people
would get too excited
s’excitessin massa
e che sarebbe potuto succedere qualcosa di pericoloso
come già era successo durante gli ultimi minuti del 2014
and something dangerous could happen
like it did during the last minutes of 2014
但我有嗰疑问
如果視頻確實來自排練
点解會某人睇到？
在城市嗰中间
数百万人居住嘅地方
呢度
上百
I wonder though
if the video was indeed from a rehearsal
how come this could go unnoticed
in the middle of a city
where millions live
and where hundreds
hi passen cada dia
上千
人
每一日
来来往往
点做得到
某人知觉
攞出手機
分享上
社交媒體
of thousands
walk through that spot
every single day
how could this be done
without anyone noticing
and taking out their phones a
nd sharing it on Social Media
or whatever
condividendo sui social media o quant’altro
ripensando a questo episodio
le centinaia di migliaia di sconosciuti
le deludenti luci di Capodanno
l’incredibile storia e tutto il resto
sembra lentamente scomparire dalla mia memoria
diventando una “storia” che racconterò ai miei amici
lasciando la gente interessata a cose
che più condivido e meno sento mie
looking back at this whole episode
the hundreds of thousands of strangers
the underwhelming New Year light show
the incredible story and everything else
seem to slowly fade out from my memory
it became a “story” that I would tell my friends
getting other people’s interest in things
that the more I share, the less I feel mine
el que encara recordo
és el que em vaig guardar per a mi
what I still remember
is what I kept to myself:
新年，
la teva mà,
your hand
悄無聲息地，
agafant-se a la meva
holding mine
降臨到我哋身边
mentre l’Any Nou va arribar en silenci
as the New Year came silently upon us