© Michelle Lewis-Kingġ.3 The Instrumentation Process of Pulse Project: Each of the organs and networks (known as zàngfǔ ) are also associated with an element, colour, tone, etc (Lewis-King, 2013).įigure 6: Sample SC Code for V&A 1 Composition (2013). For the purposes of differentiating the traditional Chinese conception of the organs from those of occidental medicine, Chinese ‘organs’ are capitalised in this text and are not to be confused with the western biomedical understanding of these organs. These levels are also associated with specific organs and networks (refer to Figure 2 and Figure 3). From each position on the wrist, the practitioner registers at least two levels from which the pulse waveform qualities can be felt and are referred to as ‘superficial’ and ‘deep’. The palpation of pulses requires many years of practice to develop the sensitivity to enable the practitioner to read pulses with accuracy (Hsu, 1999).ġ.1 A Brief Introduction to Chinese Pulse Diagnostics:Įach wrist has three positions where the practitioner’s fingers are placed in order to palpate the pulse and this makes a total of six positions of palpation altogether (refer to Figure 2). In using pulse reading to touch upon the internal oscillations of others, touch is used as a method of intensive listening that enables me to translate the oscillations of subtle energies and flowing of blood within the interior universe of another into a uniquely individualised soundscape. The unique focus of this study that potentially distinguishes it from other sonic and creative practice studies is its exploration of the sonic possibilities within the interior of the body when considered from a perspective alternative to standard practice in western medicine and technology (Lewis-King, 2013). Section 3 provides a professional and theoretical framework for Pulse Project and Section 4 makes the case for why Pulse Project offers unique contributions to knowledge in the fields of art, science and sound studies. Section 2 outlines the content of the performances as well as the content of the workshops used to explore and disseminate the themes presented in the performances. Section 1 explores the methodologies of Pulse Project. This Project Description is divided into 4 sections. These soundscapes are not sonifications of western principles of circulation but offer another perspective to conceive of/listen to the interior spaces of the body as each participant’s pulse is interpreted as a unique set of soundwave images based on traditional Chinese pulse diagnosis (a complex set of 28+ waveform images corresponding to states of being) and also according to traditional Chinese music theory (Lewis-King, 2014). Drawing upon my experience as a clinical acupuncturist (with training in biomedicine), I use traditional Chinese medicine and music theories together with technology to compose bespoke algorithmic soundscapes expressive of an individual’s ‘being’ that registers along a spectrum between Asian and Western approaches to the body. Pulse ‘reading’, case histories, notations of pulses and acupuncture point locating are all used together as methods for exploring the cultural encounter between artist, participants and diverse medical practices. In this study, I embody and perform research practice itself through adopting the role of artist-acupuncturist-investigator and acting as an instrument or medium between myself and others and between cultural traditions for understanding and mediating the body. Pulse Project is a doctoral performance research series exploring the relational interfaces between medicine, culture and technology. Consciousness Reframed 2015, TeDao Masters Academy Shanghai, 20th-22nd November.
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