Yingzhi Ning

Fig 1-6. Installation views at ACT Gallery.

She Swims in Silence (2025)
Fishing net structure, 3d-printed speakers, multichannel sound, mirrors, VR audio & video

She Swims in Silence uses a suspended fishing net decorated with hundreds of mirrors as an immersive environment to recall a period in Chinese history, when young women were encouraged to move to and develop Xinjiang. Their voices and identities were often absorbed into collective life, leaving few personal narratives behind.

The net vibrates with layered sound from eight speakers surrounding and hovering the net: factory noise, model operas, slogans, and women’s voices. As viewers step into the structure, they become participants and witnesses of the memory from this piece of history. Through light, sound, and vibration, the work hints at stories that resonate beneath the surface.

I worked on speaker design, sound design, parts of visual design, and VR sound design.

Fig 1-6. Installation views.

Traces of Ripples (2025)
Dual-cassette loop system, calligraphy water mat & brush, contact microphone, magnetic tape, Max MSP patch

In Traces of Ripples, the audience is invited to write on a calligraphy water mat where every stroke is made with water instead of ink. As the brush moves on the mat, a contact microphone and cassette recorder immediately capture the friction and pressure of the gesture onto an infinite tape loop. A second cassette player plays this recording back in near real-time.

The Max MSP patch listens to the cassette’s output in real time: whenever it detects new bursts of sound, it triggers random segments of an imported Guqin song. Therefore, each gesture leads to two sounds, the raw brush-mat friction and Guqin fragments, which are shortly erased when new materials get recorded onto the tape loop. 

As the water marks evaporate and the magnetic traces are erased, the installation returns to a faint hiss, waiting for the next stroke to set the system in motion again. The same could be said about calligraphy and any other culture: if it isn’t constantly practiced, it will eventually fade away.

I worked on everything individually. 

Fig 1-2. Exhibition views.

Stents (2025)
Bamboo tubes, metal tubes, wood and metal sheets, nylon ties, conduction speakers (sound exciters), music composition

Stents is a sound sculpture that contains two cube structures, one made up of bamboo tubes and sheets, and the other with metal ones. Observed from the front, the bamboo structure writes out the Chinese character “家”, translating into “home”, while the metal structure draws out the shape of a house. This also ties to the materiality of calligraphy, where bamboo tubes are reminiscent of bamboo brushes while metal tubes are reminiscent of pens.

Two conduction speakers are attached to each structure, playing a composition of field recordings and samples of construction sites in Hong Kong that still use bamboo scaffolding, and construction sites in New York City that use metal scaffolding. Bamboo and metal hitting sounds are transformed into drone sounds to accompany the field recordings. Altogether, the work preserves and recreates the classic street views of two cities with distinct cultures and atmospheres.

I worked on everything individually. 

Fig 1-4. Installation views.

Where Light Ferments, Time Resounds (2025)
Installation, mixed media

Commissioned by Hebei Provincial Museum, Where Light Ferments, Time Resounds reinterprets the ancient gilt-bronze vessel through nine stacked slices of bird-seal patterns. When viewers move their hands in front of the structure, a Kinect gesture sensor activates shifting projections and sound, briefly lighting up the carved motifs.

Rich visual and sonic elements create a momentary glow, allowing the past to surface for an instant before fading back into shadow.

I worked on sound design, parts of visual and TouchDesigner design.

Fig 1-6. Installation views at TANK Shanghai.

Pontus’ Echo (2024 - 2025)
Interactive gauze-screen installation, flexible circuits, glass, projection system, ambiance music

In Potus’ Echo, layers of gauze and flexible circuits form a suspended structure that carries flowing, data-driven visuals. These projections, which are generated from satellite imagery, hydrological data, and field recordings, move like water across the surface, shifting in color and texture as the data changes. Ambiance music which emphasizes found sounds accompanies the visual elements.

When viewers touch the gauze, the screens sway and distort, causing the projection to ripple and rotate in real time. Glass sculptures reminiscent of marine organisms hang within the piece, pointing to the intertwined relationships among humans, glassmaking, sand, and the ocean. These interactions encourage viewers to rethink their role within Earth’s unstable and interconnected systems.

I worked on sound design and parts of visual design.

Fig 1-4. Product images.

Thermalo (2024 - 2025)
Teensy microcontroller, thermal camera, custom PCB, custom enclosure

Thermalo is a temperature-sensitive synthesizer that turns heat into sound. A thermal camera on the back of the device collects temperature data, and the Teensy chip processes this information and updates the thermal graph on the screen in real time. The code translates the colors in the thermal graph into sound, generating different waveforms and frequencies according to colors.

Influenced by jazz theory, the instrument gives users control over musical structure. They can choose from ten scales, twelve root notes, and adjust the tempo using the keys and knobs. A built-in speaker and an audio jack offer two output options, and additional buttons on the top corner and a third knob are reserved for future modes and functions.

As an extension of Christoph Cox’s idea of sound as sonic flux, Thermalo treats temperature as a flowing, ever-changing material that directly shapes the instrument’s sound. Heat becomes color, and color becomes sound. It is an ongoing interaction where the surrounding environment and musical choice continuously compose the piece together.

I worked on everything individually.