Water God Bot 水神機器人

Medium: Found objects, sand, water, salt, wood, sounds, and custom electronics.

材質：聲音互動裝置。陶、海洋現成物、特製電子設備、聲音、麻繩、擴音器、麥克風

Dimensions: 170 x 500 x 600 cm or adjustable to the space

尺寸：170 x 500 x 600 cm

Year: 2020

An interactive sound installation using the detectability of electricity, body, water, and salt to cascade existence. It explores the constant process of confirmation and reinforcement of spiritual sublimation, machinery, and flesh, material, and spirit.

Space comes to life when the viewers touch the water in the device that triggers sounds to compose a fluid dimension; A dimension that transcends time and space.

The usage of medical implants and medicines to repair the flesh is to view the body as a machine. The boundary between robots and humans is fascinating. Are there souls? Is the world we perceive the whole? Do lifeless objects possess powers and thoughts? Can reality be created through rituals, contacts, and imagination? Water God Bot uses technology and the physical property of the human body, daily objects, and natural elements to sound out the spiritual and imaginative dimension in contemporary life.

The work intends to interpret and explore the oldest known belief system: Animism with the artistic approach. If God exists in robots?

The sounds used in this piece are the combinations of ambient sounds of Kaohsiung City in Taiwan, the sounds of the three-state changes of water in North America, and sounds generated by synthesizers.

類似大型樂器的互動聲音裝置。透過電、身體、水、與鹽串聯可感測的存在，探討精神昇華，及機器與肉身、物質與精神間不斷重複確認加強的過程。觀者身體觸碰作品中的水，可觸發場域中的各種聲響，所有容器可同時觸發各自的聲音，形成超越時空維度的流動空間。

醫學用各種人工植入物與用藥來修復肉體，某種程度上即是將身體視為一部機器，於是機器與人的界線與比重是個值得玩味的概念：究竟有沒有靈魂？我們感知的世界是否就是全貌？一個無生命跡象的物件是否有力量、有思想？透過儀式、接觸、與想像，是否就能創造出真實？作品試圖對目前已知最古老的信仰系統：泛靈論加以當代的詮釋探討。

作品觸動聲音的原理是電的物理性質，藉由觀者身體做為導體去觸碰作品，改變作品本身的電阻，進而觸發各種聲響。作品的完成必須要有觀眾參與，觀者的肉身也成為作品媒材的一部分。

現成物廣泛收集自台灣民眾提供的民俗與信仰的生活符號，中央神像以水泥砂直塑。作品使用的音檔，是2020年在台灣與美國兩地同步採集的環境音，其中有生活炊煮的聲音、海潮聲、也有融雪聲、吞嚥聲、、、等等，展現了水的三態變化在大氣中不受地理影響的無限循環。

All rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced.

Hui-Ying Tsai: Concept, sculpture, and installation
Jonathan Grover: Sounds, programming, and custom electronics
Support from The Pier2 Art Center, Pier-2 Artist in Residence, Ministry of Culture of Taiwan, and Bureau of Cultural Affairs Kaohsiung City Government

*Full version of video documentation available upon request.