Project Proposal: Echoes on Paper – Fragments of Memory
1. Project Overview
This project is developed in response to the Hidden Door 2025 design requirements, incorporating the concept of time and memory layers. It invites the audience to explore the historical memory of the paper mill and, through a combination of sound design, LiDAR scanning, and interactive devices, reconstruct, reinterpret, and reimagine the sounds that once existed within the space.
By conducting sound collection and spatial scanning at different locations within the paper mill, these audio fragments will be recorded, processed, and presented through immersive installations. This allows the audience to engage in a multi-sensory experience that merges sound, space, and visual elements, transforming the act of listening into an interactive discovery of history and time.
2. Core Concept
- Exploring the Sonic Memory of Space– Through scanning and interaction, the audience will awaken the historical sounds of the paper mill.
- Sound Restoration and Recreation– The audience is not just a passive listener but a sound archaeologist, piecing together the fragmented auditory history of the space.
- Integration of Space, Sound, and Interaction– Through interactive sound installations, participants will experience the fluidity of time, navigating between past, present, and future through sound.
3. Engagement & Playfulness
This project transforms the audience from passive listeners into active explorers, giving them the role of sound archaeologists. Their task is to scan, trigger, and reconstruct the paper mill’s lost sounds, actively shaping their auditory experience.
Every action influences the way sound is perceived:
- Walking through different areas→ Triggers different historical sound fragments.
- Touching walls and surfaces→ Activates echoes of old machines.
- Speaking or clapping→ Alters the reverberation and spatial sound effects.
A puzzle-like interaction: Instead of a fixed narrative, the experience allows for open-ended sonic exploration, where participants must actively uncover hidden soundscapes within the environment.
A unique and dynamic experience:
- No two visitors will hear the same sounds, as their actions shape the unique compositionof their sonic journey.
- Some may restore a cohesive auditory memoryof the factory, while others may hear only fragmented, distorted traces of the past.
- This non-linear structureenhances replayability, as each interaction leads to a different discovery.
Navigating through time layers:
- Past sounds→ The rhythmic hum of machines, murmuring workers, the rustling of paper.
- Present sounds→ The hollow, desolate echoes of an abandoned space, the sound of wind through broken windows, dripping water, and creaking metal.
- Future sounds→ AI-generated noise, distorted electronic signals, fragmented data transmissions.
Open-ended choices:
- Visitors can restore the past, carefully piecing together a faithful reconstruction of historical sounds.
- They can blend time layers, creating an experimental fusion of past and future.
- They can erase history, allowing the past to be overtaken by digital noise, transforming the factory into a speculative sonic landscape.
Exploring the distortions of time:
- Visitors do not just move through physical space—they navigate temporal dimensions.
- Every decision shapes how they perceive time through sound, making each journey a personal, evolving experience.
4. Conceptual Significance
This project raises philosophical and artistic questions about memory, sound, and preservation in the digital age:
The Paper Mill as an Archive of Memory
- The paper mill was once a hub of information production(books, newspapers, archives).
- Now, it stands abandoned, stripped of its former function, becoming a space of erasure and forgetting.
- The project asks: “When a place that once preserved information is itself forgotten, what happens to its sounds?”
- By scanning and interacting, visitors metaphorically “read” the stored sonic imprintsof the space, turning the site into a living sound archive.
Sound as a Witness to History
- The project emphasizes that sound is an archive of time—even as buildings decay, sonic traces remain.
- Through interaction, the audience decides the fate of these sounds:
- Restore history→ Let the past be fully reconstructed.
- Remix time layers→ Create a hybrid of past, present, and future.
- Erase the past→ Replace history with artificial digital noise.
An interactive, open-ended narrative
- This installation does not dictate a fixed outcome—instead, the audience determines the paper mill’s sonic fate:
- If they prioritize past sounds, the mill’s history becomes clearer.
- If they activate more digital noise, the echoes of history are lost.
Rethinking Memory in the Digital Age
- How do we store and reconstruct historyin an age dominated by data and algorithms?
- Can we ever truly restore the past, or is all memory destined to be rewritten by the future?
- What is the role of human interactionin shaping and preserving sonic heritage?
5. Conclusion
This project is more than an interactive installation; it is a multi-sensory exploration of time, memory, and interactivity.
- The audience is no longer a passive observerbut an active participant, exploring and reconstructing the sonic past of the paper mill.
- Their choices shape the outcome, determining whether history is preserved, fragmented, or erased.
- Through sound, interaction, and immersive visuals, the project raises critical questions about how we experience and manipulate time through auditory perception.
The final question remains: Do the echoes of the past endure, or are they destined to dissolve into the ever-expanding noise of the future?
Written by Jingxian Li(s2706245) & Tianhua Yang(s2700229)
