Dispersing Seeds of Kindness

Upon entering the performance hall, the audience becomes part of the performance. Microphones on both sides of the hall pick up random sounds…of the audience’s footsteps, coughs, snatches of conversation…

This is the concept of Sound Seed Project as described by leading Taiwanese musician and renowned figure in the TV and film industries, Lim Giong. For him, “In this way, every person’s thoughts, given voice, join the performance environment.”

“At present, I would like to have a more abstract stage design, one which represents a garden within which the artists perform, with digital video art interacting with the music”, says Lim Giong. “By ‘interaction’, I am referring to the process in which a seed is planted by the music in the beginning, its germination and growth into a plant with multiplying branches and leaves, its bearing of fruit which eventually falls to the ground and splits apart, scattering seeds which make their way through natural dispersal around the world. In this way, kindness is similarly cyclical in a universe in which what goes around comes around.” He says, “through such presentations of my music and thoughts, I hope to spread feelings of kindness to the social environment around me”.

For Huayi 08, Lim Giong combines his unique brand of music with the talent of four local artists - Jeffrey Yue (interactive sound designer), Ng Wen Lei (interactive media artist), Lim Wei Ling (installation artist) and Lim Woan Wen (lighting designer). He has been in Singapore since December 2007 to discuss and exchange ideas with the artists. Within four weeks, the five managed to meld different ideas and approaches while building on the same concept.

Lim Giong intends to keep an open mind in working together with the different artists participating in this project for he feels that a concept “can undergo reworking and keep on evolving, and so yield new and exciting results”. More importantly, what Lim Giong values most is the process of interaction and the creative exchange which the artists engage in during collaboration.

A new Sound Seed Project

The Sound Seed Project staged at Huayi 08 is not a completely new undertaking. In September 2007, Lim Giong collaborated on the first Sound Seed Project with visual engineer Blaireko and VJ Light at electronic music events Elefanten-Mixtur (Switzerland) and Divan du Monde (Paris).

This version of Sound Seed Project for Huayi 08, however, will be different from its predecessor. Although the theme remains unchanged, the collaboration with different artists in different countries will result in something distinctive.

In fact, Lim Giong’s concept for Sound Seed Project, in its fledgling stage,had been inspired by Japanese researcher Dr Masaru Emoto’s research on the nature of water. Beginning his research in 1994 with microscopic photographs of frozen water crystals, Dr Emoto had claimed that water had a “life” of its own, with the ability to feel, transmit messages and remember. In his findings, Dr Emoto concluded that the beauty or ugliness of the crystalline forms that water took upon freezing depended on the vibes it received from external stimuli such as writing, voice or thought. Positive messages of “empathy, appreciativeness and sanctity” resulted in more beautiful crystals while negative ones of “hate, anguish and annoyance” resulted in crystals with less attractive forms.

These claims showed Lim Giong that people’s thoughts do have an impact on their environment, and those who project feelings of warmth and goodwill contribute towards creating an environment of unexpected beauty for their positive vibes sow “seeds” that spread positivity to people around them.

Huayi 08’s Sound Seed Project will feature new effects and a natural style of presentation. “Music is the product of a composer’s emotions, thoughts and spirit…a kind of magnetic field”, enthuses Lim Giong. “When music turns into a form of energy, it creates an impact on listeners as it reaches their ears and minds. Hence if a musician practices positive thoughts and actions, it will naturally be reflected in his music.“

He says that sound seeds of kindness have already been “scattered” in Switzerland, Paris, Taiwan and Singapore, and may be dispersed to other countries in the future, spreading goodwill. It is his hope that through this, he may contribute to a greater sense of goodwill and kindness across society.

Multiple facets

Before becoming a music producer, Lim Giong had been a pop singer, actor and composer. It was famous film director Hou Hsiao-hsien who had led him to make the switch to producing music. It all started when Lim Giong invited the late Taiwanese puppet master Lee Tien-Lu to film the music video for The Old Tyre Peddler (黑轮伯仔). The director dropped by the set to see Tien-Lu, and noticed Lim Giong sitting by the side. This landed Lim the role of young Lee Tien-Lu in the movie The Puppetmaster, and subsequently Chung Hao-Tung in Good Men, Good Women, and Flathead in Goodbye South, Goodbye.

For Goodbye South, Goodbye, Hsiao-hsien had also tasked Lim Giong with composing the original film score. For that project, Lim Giong engaged the help of his friends in the underground music scene, and the creative process invoked in him a keen “sense of magic when music meets film.” His first attempt won him his first Golden Horse Award for Best Original Film Score in 1996. His subsequent award-winning compositions were for Millennium Mambo (2001) and Do Over (2006).

His compositions reflect his acute observation of social issues, and are thought to “embodying a deep concern for humanity”. A blend of various aspects of media, cultural elements and everyday scenarios, they ultimately create surreal sensory experiences for the listener.

Although Lim Giong has shown exceptional talent in acting and composing for films, for 17 years, he has maintained an attitude of “sincerity and retrospection, diversity and tolerance” in his compositions. Hence, after scoring for several films, he turned to electronic music as a new outlet for musical creativity despite his awareness that its audience would be small.

Stirring emotions

His third album Entertainment World marks his first attempt at infusing electronica into his compositions. His exploration of electronic music continues in his subsequent albums China Fun, Folk Paradise, and Insects Awaken.

An outstanding album that combines different audio elements to paint “picturesque soundscapes” of Taiwan, Insects Awaken (2005) combines images of ancient paintings from the Taipei National Palace Museum with classical poetry, lyrics and sonnets, the experience of Taipei streets, traditional opera, bustling night markets, rusticity and modernity to stir up emotions and the imagination. For his efforts, Lim Giong garnered the Best Crossover Album award at the 17th Golden Melody Awards in 2006 for the album.

Lim Giong believes his understanding of the traditional and the avant-garde has deepened over time. “These two are inter-related. What matters is how you manage and utilise the medium,”, he says. “For example in Insects Awaken, when I combined stanzas of poetry with electronic music, it resulted in a refreshingly beautiful creation that stirs the emotions.”

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