Samson Young (b.1979) is a composer, sound artist and media artist. Young received training in computer music and composition at Princeton University under the supervision of computer music pioneer Paul Lansky. He is currently an assistant professor in sonic art and physical computing at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong. Young is also the principle investigator at the Laboratory for Ubiquitous Musical Expression (L.U.M.E), and artistic director of the experimental sound advocacy organization Contemporary Musiking. In 2007, he became the first from Hong Kong to receive the Bloomberg Emerging Artist Award for his audio-visual project “The Happiest Hour”. His brainwave non-performance “I am thinking in a room, different from the one you are hearing in now” received a Jury Selection award at the Japan Media Art Festival, and an honorary mention at the digital music and sound art category of Prix Ars Electronica.
Fkawdw.nl. 2022. Samson Young – Participants – FKA Witte de With. [online] Available at: <https://www.fkawdw.nl/en/participants/samson_young>.
I did some research on him after listening to Thursday’s lecture. I found that his compositions are often created in a musical context, meaning that music is the language in which he interprets the abstract world. His work extends from music and sound to a variety of media, constantly expanding the degree and possibilities of access to abstract issues. Composing from different dimensions, the listener is left to savor the social and cultural dimensions they imply, and as Samson Young himself says, “I often respond to the surrounding context, and that never changes.”
I think this video gives us a better understanding of his creative ideas and process. In this video he also thinks about the arrangements and possible situations that could happen in order to complete his final piece. This video also make me feel that the creation of a piece of art is similar to the steps of a science experiment.