心 裁 / heartwood

For keyboards, electronics, and hand crafted wooden instruments.

Titled with a Chinese homophone that can be interpreted as both “heartwood” and “the conception of an unconventional idea”, 心裁 is a collaboration between Thrudesign / 素元 and Passepartout Duo.

The project was started as part of the duo’s residency in Beijing with AnyOne, in the T3 International Art Community. Thrudesign, a furniture design company, provided instruments from their store that were created by the instrument maker Auris.

Inspired by the simple constraints given by the instruments, their clear symmetry, and their beautiful design, the music centers around fundamental structures and procedures that give way to underlying complexities through superimpositions, electronic manipulations, and timbral shifts.

The music is also largely inspired by tea and tea culture, and the discussions over tea that were often a creative force for the duo during their stay in China.

The piece was filmed in the studio of Yannis Zhang & Yumo Wu (AnyOne).

Premiere performance at Thrudesign / 素元

After writing the music, Thrudesign and AnyOne held a performance event at the furniture shop that also involved adding improvisatory dance to the piece from two local dancers, Ma Yue / 马越 and Li Kehua / 李可华.

Poster designed by Yannis Zhang, event photos by Yumo Wu