Singing Love Songs Alone

Artist Statement for China Exhibit:

The Mandarin language is very omnipresent and growing. Its lyricism, the physical beauty of its pictorial characters, and a language of international commerce are a few of the reasons for this development. For people who use the Latin alphabet the characters of this Asian language are almost impenetrable. It is a stimulating thought, for the Latin users, to try and embrace Mandarin's splendour and communication. A poignant entry point could be through song, maybe through something more embracing and universal, as in the activity of karaoke singing. For this project I attempt to sing, to the best of my ability, a Chinese pop song in a karaoke format but with the aid of 'pinyin' which are romanized Chinese characters.

Pinyin is a system of transliteration, which corresponds characters of one alphabet to another language's alphabet. Although the Chinese characters are not an alphabet per se, pinyin is used to spell out the sounds of this Asian language for use on a computer or as a teaching method for foreigners. In addition there is a growing market for pinyin on the karaoke music scene to support Mandarin speakers who are more familiar with the Latin alphabet.

My mother tongue is English and I speak limited German and French. This gesture to speak Mandarin via the conduit of a Chinese pop song expresses humbleness in language as an English speaker I do not usually feel. Plus the karaoke pop song genre is sociologically fascinating. Where 'future' pop stars perfect their craft hoping for a music industry agent in the crowd to spot their talent, an individual's personal prescription to build confidence, singing collectively for a company's team building exercise, to rejoice and actively participate in music that arouses you, to fantasize, to express your vulnerability, and other numerous personal incentives.

The embrace of an Asian culture is at the project's core for me and in hope that the listeners sense the honesty and humour that is reaching out to them. Recognizing that we do have differences and do not have to speak the same language but at the same time can sing to each other as friends.

- Kenneth Doren