Echoes of Touch II is a three-channel audiovisual installation that explores the tactile and sonic landscape of Hong Kong through the artist’s intimate engagement with her surroundings. Using a wearable, DIY nail contact microphone—attached to the fingertip—the artist transforms touch into sound, capturing the subtle vibrations of materials like cement, brick, tiles, steel, paper, plants, and soil.
The audio recordings form the core of the work, documenting the artist’s exploration of both artificial and natural textures within her living space. This act of sonic touching emerges from the complex experience of relocating from mainland China to Hong Kong—a place that feels physically familiar yet emotionally distant. Through deep listening and embodied interaction, the artist seeks to bridge this sense of estrangement, cultivating a more intimate dialogue with her environment.
The project extends into visual interpretation through two sound visualizations. The first translates spectral data into a shifting green-blue texture on a black background, visually echoing the artist’s gestures and the moment of contact. It aims to make audible textures visible and dynamic. The second visualization adopts a more abstract method, using spectral data to generate an evolving 2D surface. Rather than direct mapping, it evokes the sensation of roughness, simulating the haptic quality of the city’s surfaces.
A third video presents the nail contact microphone itself, highlighting its role as both sensor and instrument. By showcasing the device, the work emphasizes the fusion of human touch with technological augmentation.
Through this layered composition, Echoes of Touch II bridges sound, touch, and urban materiality. It invites audiences to experience the textures of place through a multisensory lens, translating the inaudible and invisible qualities of the city into shared sensory understanding.
Exhibited on Sonic Transition
First Version - Echoes of Touch exhibited on Spark III