San Mei Gallery is pleased to present Symphony Zero, a solo exhibition by London-based artist and researcher Lisa Chang Lee.

At the core of Lisa Chang Lee’s practice is a deep interest in the relationship between humanity and the environment in different cultures. Inspired by how Taoist ideology of nature permeates through visual art, music, poetry amongst every aspect in Asian culture, Lee works across moving image, photography, print and collaborative research-based projects with creative partners from other disciplines. Her work is made based on a vitalist conception of life which sees nature as a constant flow of transformation that contains culture rather than a static objectified exterior to man.

Symphony Zero is a project that uses the objectivity of algorithms to examine and challenge the binary opposition between technology and nature. Through data analysis, the rhythm of plants in the breeze is read and then transformed into music scores. Applied with Olivier Messiaen's scale inspired both by music and birds song, the algorithm processes movements of plants swaying in the breeze, recorded from everyday life. Each plant is given a musical instrument that corresponds to its synesthetic form. Eventually, musical scores written by nature are played by humans as a live performance and an audio-visual installation.

The project explores the act of 'non-doing' using AI and machine learning. Whilst technology is undeniably dominating our everyday life and our ways of experiencing the world, the artist believes that the principle of algorithms is ultimately neutral. The binaries can be computed to help us better comprehend the environment as an ultra-complex organism, as well as reveal the beauty of spontaneity and chance.

Symphony Zero’s public programme will include Serenade of the Woods, a live performance of virtuoso multi-percussionist Beibei Wang, on August 21. Please book here.

Visiting during COVID-19

To maintain social distancing, we are operating a booking system with timed entry for the Private View only. If you wish to visit the exhibition during our normal open hours there is no need to book. Book for the Private View here.

About the artist

Lisa Chang Lee is an artist, independent curator and lecturer based in London. She obtained an MA from the Print department at the Royal College of Art in London in 2014, and is now a visiting lecturer at the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing, at the Royal College of Art in London and curator of Print Future Panel of International Printmaking Triennial at China Academy of Art (CAA). Recent solo and group exhibitions include Indeterminate Loop at Ginkgo Space Beijing (2020, China); Serenade of the Woods at the Rattles Collective London (2019, UK); Seoul Biennale (2019, Korea); Unstable Landscape, M100 Contemporary Art Centre (2018, Chile); York Art Gallery (2018, UK); Shenzhen/HK Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture (2017, China). Her work features in the permanent collections of Victoria and Albert Museum (UK); The Royal Collection (UK); British Museum (UK); Ashmolean Museum (UK); Metropolitan Museum (US).