Ivan Liu Echoes of the Land

Echoes of the Land is an interactive installation that investigates the connection between human activity and natural phenomena, exploring how our actions can trigger seismic movements and alter the planet’s balance. The installation combines a mechanical kinetic device with motion sensors and advanced sound techniques, such as granular synthesis. Visitors can generate force on the structure through direct interaction, accumulating energy until a critical threshold is reached. At that moment, the installation triggers a sequence of interconnected movements and sound vibrations that simulate the dynamics of an earthquake, turning human action into a physical and sonic experience.

The work features two six-meter screens, which occupy the space of the chapel and amplify the sensory experience, projecting in real-time the transformations of the environment as viewers interact with the installation. These images reinforce the contrast between the sensations of nature versus the artificial, offering an amplified perception of seismic changes and their effects.

With this installation, Ivan Liu creates an immersive landscape and invites us to reflect on our relationship with the environment and the consequences of our intervention in nature.

Ivan Liu is an artist and researcher whose work fuses art and science to investigate new ways of narrating the complex relationship between humans, nature, and technology. With a background in Physics from Imperial College London and a PhD from the Max-Planck Institute for Complex Systems Physics in Germany, his career spans more than a decade as a freelance artist before he became an adjunct professor at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. There, he founded the Future Narratives Lab, a space dedicated to the artistic investigation of contemporary issues through sensory and interactive experiences.

His work has been presented in leading institutions such as IRCAM, Chroniques Biennales, ISEA 2025, and the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, consolidating his position at the forefront of art and technology.

We appreciate the support from Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Spain.

Credits:
Interactive technology and sound: Chung-En Hao
Model design and interactive image: Jing Xie
Sponsored by National Science and Technology Council (Taiwan)