QUANTUM FRAME
LITTLE SOUND MACHINES
LITTLE SOUND MACHINES
2019 -
2018
2018
The Quantum Frame is a mechanical installation that speculates on the future of quantum computing and what that may hold for machine intelligence and consciousness. The installation takes the form of the present day quantum computer, with a tubular central chamber, where machine learning data drives the mechanical movements of an electromagnetic structure, breathing life into the metallic framework, a ghost in the machine.
The current version of the frame is self-generative. But the artist hopes that once time-sharing of the quantum computer is open to the general public, that the installation may be able to talk with the quantum machine directly via data transfer.
This piece is currently on-going. Magnetic field experimentation and research with ferrofluid are currently in--progress.
The Little Sound Machines is a sound installation consisting of a series of both mechanical and digital machines that are connected to an AI network. Three AIs form the central brain of the network. Through learning from and influencing each other, the AIs construct the musical phrases that are then played out through a series of sound-generating machines. The music generated by the AI is also presented on a series of television screens that visualizes both the AI data and audio, as well as machine logic and behavior to the audience.
This piece proposes a new mode of music creation in the age of intelligent machine. Through experimentation, the artist presents an exploration of new musical interfaces that erases the composer from the equation, to present a purely machine-made performance.
The Little Sound Machines are made from found objects, up-cycled and spare parts.
The Little Sound Machines is a sound installation consisting of a series of both mechanical and digital machines that are connected to an AI network. Three AIs form the central brain of the network. Through learning from and influencing each other, the AIs construct the musical phrases that are then played out through a series of sound-generating machines. The music generated by the AI is also presented on a series of television screens that visualizes both the AI data and audio, as well as machine logic and behavior to the audience.
This piece proposes a new mode of music creation in the age of intelligent machine. Through experimentation, the artist presents an exploration of new musical interfaces that erases the composer from the equation, to present a purely machine-made performance.
The Little Sound Machines are made from found objects, up-cycled and spare parts.
LITTLE SOUND MACHINES
2018
The Little Sound Machines is a sound installation consisting of a series of both mechanical and digital machines that are connected to an AI network. Three AIs form the central brain of the network. Through learning from and influencing each other, the AIs construct the musical phrases that are then played out through a series of sound-generating machines. The music generated by the AI is also presented on a series of television screens that visualizes both the AI data and audio, as well as machine logic and behavior to the audience.
This piece proposes a new mode of music creation in the age of intelligent machine. Through experimentation, the artist presents an exploration of new musical interfaces that erases the composer from the equation, to present a purely machine-made performance.
The Little Sound Machines are made from found objects, up-cycled and spare parts.
BIOHARMONIC QUARTET
machine learning, wearable electronics, custom software
2018
musician: B6 (Lou Nanli)
artists: Bemjamin Bacon, Vivian Xu
performers: Wang Wenwei, the Shanghai Philharmonic String Quartet and Piano
Bio-harmonic Quartet is a hybrid performance system that binds together a group of musicians and artists through a shared biofeedback network. This network functions as a collective musical interface, drawing on the bodily activity of each participant — muscle movement, pulse, and neural data — and channeling this information into machine learning models that generate music and soundscapes in real time. The result is a form of composition that belongs to no single author, emerging instead from the dynamic interplay between human physiology and machine intelligence.
The work is an investigation into the possibilities of human-machine collaboration within the context of musical creation and live performance. It began as an inquiry into BCI and machine learning technologies, and the ways in which these systems might disrupt and evolve the practices of music production, composition, and performance. Building on the artist's earlier explorations of machine networks and human-machine interaction, the piece moves toward a more complex and integrated model — one in which humans and machines do not operate in opposition, but work in concert toward shared creative expression.
The system consists of machine learning models paired with wearable sensory devices that capture biometric and neural data across all participants simultaneously.
Bio-harmonic Quartet was performed under the design collective name Dogma Lab.

Image of participating artists Benjamin Bacon (left), B6 (middle) and Vivian Xu (right) at the
Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Hall taken before the performance.
