Zhao Cong is one of the central fixtures of the Beijing avant-garde scene. Like many of her peers, her sound practice is humble and unassuming, rooted in tangible aspects of the everyday. These aspects are often objects or even novelties with sonic profiles that are familiar but not conventionally “musical”—her repertoire includes cardboard tubes, light fixtures, fans, pop rocks, spray bottles, playing cards, bug zappers. She devotes extraordinary attention to the simplest of interactions. In the case of blow,blow,blow,blow,blow the focus is the most basic of all: inhale/exhale. Balloons are her tool of choice to isolate and magnify the elusive mechanism, and thus her interest is not in the properties of the stretched latex that Judy Dunaway explored in an improvisational context, but rather in its use as an elastic vessel. “Blow” is a brief invocation of sorts, amplifying the physical influxes of air that will be let back out in “Expel.” Zhao’s mic placement is just as crucial as her materials, and this pair of tracks makes that apparent with their fundamental contrast; the precise binaural array used for “Blow” makes it sound like the inflations are happening inside our ear canals, while “Expel” widens the lens to capture both the hissing flow and the surrounding environment. After the scope of the palette is established, its potential is fully reached in the lengthier pieces that follow. So much of the beauty of Zhao’s work lies not just in the happening but in the doing, the rustle of shifting hands and the creak of the table and the immanent intimacy of it all. Music via escaping gas. Might be my new favorite of hers.
Noise Not Music 