Through the Lens of Yin-Yang: Photography and Music Exploring Continuity

Abstract

This ‘exploratory practice-based research’ (Epstein and Dodd, 2012, p38) is an ontological enquiry in photography and music. It addresses the hypothesis that the Yin-Yang of citification appears distinct from the Yin-Yang of natural growth. Humans are approaching transformation that could be catastrophic. The continuing significant concern of human-nature relationship has been studied from many perspectives. Schultz (2004, in Schröder, 2007, p294) suggests the human-nature relationship may ‘be influenced by situational and environmental factors’. Young Chinese adults were taught a harmonious human-nature relationship is essential, is Tao (trans. The Way). However, China appears to be distancing itself from the principle of interaction and interdependence between ‘Earth’, ‘Human’, and ‘Heaven’ (‘人法地，地法天，天法道，道法自然’) with ‘Nature’ as the essence (ca. 400BCE, Chapter 25) and this appears to be affecting ‘wellbeing’ (Liu & Wu, 2021, part 2.3).

This research aligns with Candy’s (2006, p1) description of practice-based research as ‘an original investigation undertaken in order to gain new knowledge partly by means of
practice and the outcomes of that practice’. The central enquiry addressed photographically, musically, and philosophically is continuity and belonging. Particularly, the continuity and belonging of young Chinese internationals during transformation of traditional China into New China. New China is characterised by citification – transforming natural landscapes into cities. This thesis presents fifty-six new research photographs of citification and natural growth. Photographs are interpreted into one hour and fifty minutes of new music. The photographs and music are comparatively evaluated for their representation of Yin-Yang.

My inspiration came from how Chou Wen-Chung’s (n.d.) ‘variable mode’ demonstrates ‘belonging of diversity’ in music (n.d. in Liu, 2011, Chapter 1, p7). However, in this research, photography is an ‘information gathering technique’ (Epstein and Blumenfiled, 2001, p17), ‘an elicitation device’ (Mathison, 2009, p184) for exploring continuity of identity in changing conditions of human occupancy. I seek felt and reflective responses to my work because my occupancy is affected by how the world appears to me and my
perception changes my behaviour. Neither my photographs nor my music represents any material truth about the world but ontologically they allow exploration of essential qualities of ‘being-in-the-world’ (Kakuzo, 1906). The photographic and music representations of natural growth and citification enable unique insights for ‘studying human experience and other natural phenomena’ (McNiff, 1998, p51) because people ‘encounter’ the world not only through fact/ reason but also through ‘sense perception’ (Merleau-Ponty, 1945). In this research, theory is triangulated with critical reflection and ‘interpretive’ analysis (Walsham, 1993, p5) of primary survey and questionnaire data, culminating in
dissemination that contributes to a niche practice of photography and music in the discipline of Yin-Yang.