entre-deux ≬ 介于两者之间

entre-deux ≬ 介于两者之间 | audio live-performance with two wireless speakers, French & Chinese spoken words, field recordings and glitch effect

“voicing the emotional complexity of dual heritage identiy“

Work description:

This piece, featuring two wireless speakers repositioned several times all around the venue by the artist, immerses visitors in an internal dialogue, reflecting the intricate and often fragmented experience of navigating dual heritage. One speaker broadcasts a voice in French, while the other echoes the same voice in Mandarin. This voice is twofold, weaving an inner dialogue where languages attempt to grasp the complexity of living as a mixed-heritage individual. Sometimes attuned, sometimes interwoven, and at other times dissonant, these two linguistic selves are mirroring the rigidity of the notions of race, half construction and identity. Beyond the failure of words, the voice is constantly recalibrating itself and listening to its fragmented melody, constantly searching for an in-between space to call home.

Context:

November 2024, entre-deux ≬ 介于两者之间 was performed at the CONTEMPERAMENT Music Festival, an event hosted by Confucius Institute for Dance and Performance at Goldsmiths University (London, UK) and curated by Julia Hànzú Dèng.

Excerpt from entre-deux ≬ 介于两者之间
Written and translated by Mathias Arrignon
Chinese editing and proofreading by Yutian Hu

Français Chinois Cette voix est française Je suis français Et cette voix est chinoise Je suis chinois Deux moitiés d’un toutÊtre de sang-mêléJe marche constamment dans un entre-deuxBienvenu dans deux cultures différentes, mais privé d’une communauté que je peux vraiment appeler mienne. J’oscille entre ces deux mondes, entre mes deux héritages. J’existe entre deux terres éloignées l’une de l’autre. Mon corps compresse constamment la distance entre ces deux moitiés. Un acte d’existence dans les maisons respectives de mes lignées Il est difficile pour moi de trouver un chez moi. Suis-je destiné à être toujours « en décalage » ? Peut-être, mais enfant, je rêvais d’un foyer. Une complexité intérieure que j’essaie de résoudre sans avoir aucun modèle à suivre. Une recherche de sens où il est facile de se laisser submerger par les idées que se font les autres sur la définition de mon être.

法语 中文 这声音是法语的 我是法国人 而这声音是中文的 我是中国人 两个一半组成一个整体我是混血儿我一直行走在两者之间欢迎来到两种不同的文化，却缺少一个真正属于我的社群。我在这两个世界之间摇摆，在我的两种传承之间。 我在两片相隔遥远的土地之间存在。我的身体不断压缩这两半之间的距离。在我家族各自的屋檐下，这是一种存在的表现。找到一个家对我来说很难。我注定要永远“格格不入”吗？也许吧，但孩提时我曾梦见一个归宿。一种内心的复杂，我尝试去解开，却没有任何可循的模式。一种意义的追寻，在这里很容易被他人对我存在的定义所淹没。

French Chinese This voice is French I am French And this voice is Chinese I am Chinese Two halves of a wholeMixed blood beingI walk constantly in an in-betweenWelcome to two different cultures, yet denied a community I can truly call my own. I oscillate between these two worlds, between my two heritages. I exist between two lands distant from one another. My body constantly compresses the distance between these two halves. An act of existence within the respective homes of my lineage. It is hard for me to find a place to call home. Am I destined always to be “out of sync”? Perhaps, but as a child, I dreamed of a home. An inner complexity that I try to resolve without any model to follow. A search for meaning where it is easy to be overwhelmed by others’ ideas about who I am.