Project Title: Hidden Resonance – Decoding the Sonic Memory of Industrial Ruins
Project Introduction
This project is based on the Hidden Door paper mill site as a sound collection point and is presented in an independent exhibition space as an immersive sound installation, exploring the hidden sounds within industrial ruins.
The paper mill was once a space filled with sound—machines operating, paper rustling, workers conversing—all forming its sonic history. But when production ceased, these sounds seemed to disappear with time. But do sounds truly vanish?
This project does not attempt to restore history but rather to decode the sonic information still embedded within the paper mill. Using contact microphones, ultrasonic microphones, and vibration sensors, we will capture imperceptible vibrations and resonances from the factory’s walls, machinery, floors, and pipes, then process and reconstruct them in the exhibition space.
In the exhibition, visitors will enter a sonic archaeology lab, where they will not passively listen but instead actively explore, touch, and adjust the way sounds are revealed, uncovering the lingering echoes of this vanished space.
Project Significance
1. Sounds do not disappear—they are stored in different forms
We often assume that when a physical space is abandoned, its sounds disappear along with it. However, materials themselves can retain the imprints of time—metals, wood, and pipes still carry the vibrations they once absorbed. This project challenges our understanding of the temporality of sound, using technological tools to reveal auditory information that still lingers, hidden within the structures.
2. Redefining “listening” – Exploring the hidden layers of reality
Traditional sound experiences involve direct listening, but this project disrupts the intuitive concept that “hearing = sound.” Instead, visitors must actively decode the auditory information embedded within the structure of the space. This shifts how we perceive sound and raises the question: Is the world richer than we consciously realize?
3. Do the boundaries of reality depend on our perception?
If we cannot hear certain sounds, does that mean they do not exist? If a space is abandoned yet still holds low-frequency vibrations and material resonance, is the factory still “alive”? This project is not just an auditory experience—it is a philosophical inquiry into the boundaries of perception and reality.
4. Memory is not fixed—it is shaped through interpretation
In this exhibition, visitors do not hear a fixed historical narrative. Instead, through their exploration, they reconstruct their own version of memory. This makes history not a static record, but an experience that is actively reshaped by each individual.
Ultimately, this project is not just about documenting and replaying sounds—it is about exploring how hearing shapes our perception of space, how the echoes of time can resurface, and how we can bridge the gap between reality and memory.
Written by Jingxian Li(s2706245) & Tianhua Yang(s2700229)
