Serial No: GX002
Release Date: 2023-11-27
Length: 73'04"
Genres: Ambient, Documentry
Composed and produced by Liu Yuheng
Graphic design by maf-works.com
© Jyugam 2023

Artist's Note

(1) 豭 (jiā) means male pig, refers to male mammals. Dating back to Shang Dynasty, the early inscriptions found on bones or tortoise shells documents the character family, 家, as feeding pigs under a roof, with 豕 pronounced shǐ, meaning pig. However, the character for family sounds the same as 豭 or male pig's abbreviated phonetic. 豭 in early inscriptions took on the form of a male pig, with reproductive organs. The seal script have since evolved from 豕 and the phonetic 叚 originally meaning male pig, to the general pig.

(2) On Chinese New Year's Eve, I asked my father and my uncle as they were cooking in the kitchen, "do we usually eat more of male pigs, or female pigs?" They replied: male pigs taste a lot better, because the meat of female pigs decrease in quality and nutrition as they age. All of the malnutrition accumulates over time.

(3) My guess is, whoever created the character 家 centuries ago must a male mammal too.

This field recording was recorded on the Chinese Lunar New Year's eve dinner of February 2021. The original recording follows the family from preparations in the kitchen, cooking, up until the family gathering on the dinner table. Settings are respectively 'kitchen' and 'dinner table' in chronological order. In the art piece, "Origin of the Character, 家 (Family)", 'kitchen' and 'dinner table' are located each in the left and right sound paths of the stereo. The two sound tracks are played simultaneously, improvised and non-improvised into combined sound.

mafmadmaf, 2023.03.29

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