Haotian Wang

Micah Simmons

To cap off a wonderful month of Making Multichannel Music Workshops with our 16 channel system we present a special event from Haotian Wang. Titled Tea: Story of the Leaves, the work weaves a variety of mediums together - including sound installation, sculpture, happening, podcast, poetry, and performance. Wang strives to capture the multi-sensory, healing experience of tea-drinking.

“Humanity has met in a teacup.” – Okakura Kakuzō

Wang’s interdisciplinary art project Tea Room serves as an embodiment of the pre and post colonial history, aesthetic, philosophy, and identity politics of tea and tea-drinking. Through the investigation of navigating one’s personal identity, he uses this project to address the evolution from ethnic minority to global citizen in intercultural dialogues. Culminating in Tea: Story of the Leaves, this immersive experience combines performance and tea ceremony, delving into the multi-sensory experience of tea drinking as a means of healing and connection. Interweaving ambient-folk sound, documentary, performance, and poetry, Tea: Story of The Leaves is an invitation to tea ceremony, cultural exchange, and an immersive tuning experience of mind and body. The work aims to create an embodied experience as well as an open, communal space for deep listening, meditation, and healing. The show includes a live ambient set featuring Wang's music and sound works, a documentary screening + tea serving for each participant.

$15 / $10 w/ Student ID - Tickets Available at the Door

Artist Bios

Haotian Wang is a multidisciplinary sound artist and musician from Yunnan, China. His artistic sensibility was shaped by his Hani ethnic minority background and diverse cross-cultural experiences. His works combine sound, field recording, performance, and poetry to discuss themes of diaspora, identity, and memory. Employing meditation, healing, and multi-sensory design, he explores various formats of open space in which art can contribute to community and cultural exchange. His debut music album “The Bridge in The Mountain’s Hands (A Travelog)” (2022), featured as “Bandcamp New and Notable Album”, creates an enveloping travelog out of Chinese folk music, ambient, and spoken-words poetry.

Micah Simmons is a sound artist, musician, and engineer currently based out of Chicago, IL. Outside of engineering and designing, they primarily work in live collaborative ambient performance, and are very grateful to be performing with the wonderful musicians and listeners on this project.