Text by CLOT Magazine
Artist, producer and curator of music Yongsi Wang was born in China but moved around different countries since childhood and grew up in a trilingual and multicultural environment. Now Wang is based in London, but being abroad made her realise the feeling of being an outsider in any social environment and having multiple cultural identities. She has released three singles and four EPs. She is also the director of Beyond Time and Space, a long-term project with a main event and two sub-events to create a place for independent communities in the creative industry to collaborate globally in an innovative, affordable and sustainable way.
Beyond Time and Space leverages multiple digital tools to connect artists and audiences globally, eliminating the costs typically associated with global music events, which allow artists to perform “with each other”, “in real-time”, “interactively”, and “freely” in a two-way collaboration, as if they were performing at the same time, in the same space. The entire scene of each venue is captured on video, reflected on each other’s site via projectors, and streamed online via distribution platforms in real time. This provides audiences an experience as if they were participating in the same event across borders. Wang told us over the Email.
Wang explains that Beyond Time and Space is part of a growingly significant trend and discourse of telematic presence in the post-pandemic landscape. When asked to expand more about telematic presence, Wangs said that telematic presence refers to the sense of “being there” or “togetherness” achieved through technology, especially in contexts where physical presence is not possible. In the post-pandemic landscape, the need for connection became more pronounced as the world grappled with isolation and distancing. Telematic presence emerged as a solution, allowing people to connect, collaborate, and share experiences in real time, regardless of their physical location.
In the context of Beyond Time and Space, telematic presence is the backbone of our project. It’s about using music and technology to bridge geographical divides, allowing artists and audiences to connect in ways previously thought impossible. Wang continued.
The main event, Beyond Time and Space – London Tokyo Online 2023, which takes place on August 25 simultaneously in Corsica Studios in London, Spotify O-Crest in Tokyo and online via ZAIKO, is a transnational, simultaneous, interactive live music performance bridging the geographical gap between London and Tokyo. Participating artists are Ryuuta Takaki in Tokyo, remote bridging a live set with Sajge in London; Kotsu in Tokyo, remote B2B with Stella Z in London; and Sakura Tsuruta in Tokyo, remote overlapping a live set with Raven Bush in London. And from August 20 to 25 will take place one of the subevents associated with Beyond Time and Space: the online workshop New ways of expression led by Sakura Tsuruta.
When we asked what makes this event different from other online / IRL events, Wangs comments that in today’s digital age, while the internet and technology have brought us closer in many ways, there’s an undeniable essence to the physical experience of live music that cannot be replicated online.
Beyond Time and Space is our endeavour to balance the digital and the real. She adds that we believe in the profound connections between human beings and are convinced that the fusion of music and technology can amplify these connections. And we couldn’t agree more.
Tickets here and here (only for the London event).
