HUANG Da-Wang: In a Movie Theater, Every Member of the Audience Will Notice Your Cell Phone

1 episode. (Duration: 40-50 minutes)

The following program was made out of different sound files and may lack the narrative that a “radio drama” would have. Instead, it is more like a game of telephone, or a game of shiratori, in which words are made to follow after each other, and in which they must have the character of being question and answer. Participants in the game can also respond to words in a manner according to their personal thinking, with both improvisation in the use of language and the use of language as a tool.

The meaning of this is more than improvisation on a musical instrument, as well as in physical performances. The rule is that only proverbs can be used. Likewise, there is a rule that even if a different character is used than the previous proverb, they must be homonyms, which allows for more flexibility in play on-site. From this, not only does the game have the character of language and music, but with an unrelated soundtrack played over this, this causes a different effect on those listening. It is recommended that you listen with a set of regular stereo headphones. 

Huang Da-Wang

Born in 1975. Lives and works in Taipei. Born to be a performer, Huang used to hang out at the Bulletin Board System (BBS) with the user-name “the wolf of dark campus folksongs”during the time when Taiwan saw the dawn of the Internet age. He self-released his “Audio Graffiti Compilation” in 2001, and covered the magnum opuses of Loh Tsui Kweh Commune in collaboration with the band Cold Burn at Zeitgeist Live House in 2002, which was his stage debut, followed by a series of his performances delivered in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung in the name of different projects. Huang had collaborated with several Japanese musicians and bands as well as those from other countries during his stay in Japan between 2004 and 2010. He re-orientated himself towards improvisation and Japanese translation/interpreting profession after returning home in 2010. Huang organized the improvised soundscape band Minkoku Hyakunen in collaboration with Zheng You-Sheng, Chen Etang and the others in 2011, and awarded Honorary Mention at the 2012 Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria. He had attended the production with Jessica Lin Wan-Yu, the director of the documentary “TPE-Tics”, and won the Special Jury Award at the 2015 Taipei Film Festival. He has delivered performances in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Tokyo, Osaka, Berlin, Linz and New York, as well as participated in many exhibitions. Apart from translating Japanese books, Huang has also published reviews and notes in print media and acted in student films.