Yuz Project Space of Art

YIN Yi: I Am Listening

Yuz Museum, Panlong Tiandi, Shanghai

April 27th, 2025 – July 13th, 2025

Free Admission

Yuz Museum is pleased to present “I Am Listening,” the first institutional solo exhibition of Shanghai-based artist YIN Yi, from April 27 to July 13, 2025 at Yuz Project Space of Art. From sound, video, installation, performance to auditory theater, the exhibition will present a series of sound art works by Yin Yi, who has shifted from his role as an avant-garde musician to the field of contemporary art, featuring his recent observation and research on sound in Shanghai and urban public spaces.

Yin Yi was born in Shanghai in 1978. He formed a band when he was twenty, and then turned to digital music and actively engaged in musical creation for various fields. At the age of thirty, he created his first work based on field recordings, initiating his artistic practice and expression in sound art. As an artist, musician, curator, and university lecturer, Yin has continuously focused on sound and the functional exploration of it within social structures.

Yin is a self-proclaimed “scavenger of city sound,” who keenly captures and collects fragments of sound from the encounters in daily life. After recording various social soundscapes from streets to roads, subways to parks, he gradually became aware of the underlying logic and mechanisms governing sound in public spaces, as well as the connections between sound in urban spaces and the cultural and social attributes of public spaces. Such observations led him to a series of works exploring “sound in public spaces,” while he also put forward the notion of “auditory – sound” as a way of thinking and body engagement, guiding audience to perceive the world through sound. For Yin, sound becomes a source of knowledge and listening becomes a method of cognition; in the works of this exhibition, these rational and abstract concepts, along with the broad implications of the term “urban space,” are restored and concretized to a specific place: Shanghai.

If this series of works are considered as research-based practice, then “Shanghai” is by no means merely Yin’s working field. Shanghai is his birthplace, his cultural background, and the very space of his daily life. In the works created in Shanghai or taking Shanghai as the context, such as 20140901 – 20140930 (2014), A Journey in Shanghai (2017/2025), Toward the West (2019), Shanghai (2021), From ____ to Xintiandi (2022), and etc., Yin is first and foremost a Shanghai citizen. Driven by a profound sense of place and “Topophilia,” he projects his self-awareness into specific practice and reflection. What he does, however, is not for collective narcissism or lyrical indulgence. Instead, he contemplates on how to position intellect and emotion, and how to construct critique and affect through art.

This exhibition features eight sound art works created between 2014 and 2025. They embody these keywords that are woven together by sound – “public space,” “urban imagery,” “body/gesture,” “micropolitics,” and “memory,” presenting to the audience “the physical nature in public spaces” and “the public awareness within the body”, which are key clues and distinctive aspects of Yin’s artistic practice. This sense of “publicness” is revealed through the artist’s subject consciousness, yet it strives to transcend the artist’s individuality within specific works, becoming shared experience and collective resonance.

Over the course of nearly two-decade exploration of sound art, most of Yin’s works were created or commissioned for specific exhibitions and projects. The deep engagement with particular sites and contexts imbues the works with a strong sense of locality. With the change of time and venue, this exhibition opens up space for the works to evolve and expand, while also summarizing Yin’s practice into three aspects: Firstly, reflections on how field recordings could transcend the limitations of recording technology, and how to get rid of the mode of music listening, which also involves creative ideas and approaches to “the sound ready-mades;” Secondly, reflections on the competition between “auditory sense and visual sense,” “sound and image,” making “sound-driven images” with the concept of “listening as a creative method;” Thirdly, the turn towards “auditory” sense in sound art.

The title of the exhibition is drawn from Yin Yi’s eponymous work in the form of an auditory theater, I Am Listening (2023), which will be launched again in the outdoor space of Yuz Museum. Yin Yi intertwines physical space, cultural history, and individual perception into the texts of instructions, guiding audience to autonomously engage in the auditory exercises within the surroundings of the museum and enjoy a dynamic “listening.” Thus, “I Am Listening” is not just a result or endpoint, but rather the starting point of a journey of listening.

About the Artist

Image courtesy of the artist

YIN Yi

Yin Yi (b. 1978 in Shanghai) is a musician, artist, and curator who now works and lives in Shanghai. Yin formed the Dead Poets Society in 1998, a slowcore band in which he was the lead singer and also a bassist. He turned to digital music three years later and his musical creation started to cover a wide range, e.g., live music performance, contemporary dance, and physical theatre. Commissioned by individual artists and modern dance groups, Yin’s works have been frequently heard in the performances of Zuheniao (Shanghai), Tanzcompagnie Rubato (Berlin), Guangdong Modern Dance Company, Xie Xing Dance Theatre, Ergao Performance, Guo Rui, and etc. In recent years, Yin started to focus on laptop music performance, field recording, and the functional exploration of music within a social structure.

In the creation of sound art, Yin is known for his philosophical and poetic ideas. His observation and reflection on public space is both acute and deep, and his works are both avant-garde and critical. He proposes the notion of “auditory – sound space” and attempts to establish a working method around this concept, bringing his praxis to the discourse of multi-disciplinary collaborations. In 2020, Yin Yi and Atelier Archmixing co-founded the “HELI-AURAL Studio.”

Yin has participated in many important exhibitions, including “Collection Series” of the Power Station of Art (2025), RAM Assembles (2023), Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture, Shenzhen (2022); Echigo-Tsumari Art Field (2018); the 11th Shanghai Biennale (2016); Shenzhen New Media Art Festival (2016); and Sound Art China, Shanghai (2013). He presented his works in many art institutes, including Harvestworks, New York; Power Station of Art, Shanghai; OCT – Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen; UCCA Edge, Shanghai; Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art; Shanghai International Dance Center; Chengdu Art Museum; Sound Art Museum, Beijing; Ming Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai; Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai; Unsafe + Sound Festival, Vienna; Pingshan Art Museum, Shenzhen; Shanghai Urban Space Art Season; Hong Kong Cultural Centre, and etc.

Since 2011, Yin has been paying close attention to the artistic ecology of experimental music and sound art across China. Activities that he recently curated include: “Formant” (a sound art exhibition), “Sonic Transmission” (exchange project between Shanghai and Hong Kong), “Co-Sound” (sound performance festival), and etc. In 2012, Yin and choreographer Liu Yanan founded an artist-running alternative art space – BM Space. In 2013, he was invited by Rockbund Art Museum to curate “SAVAKA: Asia Experimental Music Currents,” which encompassed performance and conversation made with Asian artists. In 2015, OCT – Contemporary Art Terminal, Shanghai invited Yin to curate an interdisciplinary roundtable titled “Agora.” In 2023, he was invited by Rockbund Art Museum to curate “Composition For” in RAM Assembles. In 2024, he curated the exhibition “Listening Paths: Contemporary Sound Art Practices in China” at Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art. In 2025, he was invited by West Bund Museum as a guest curator for the cultural researcher program “Shanghai Sound.”

For Yin Yi, art is a recipe of self-healing and a touchstone for thoughts and action.

About Yuz Project Space of Art

Yuz Project Space of Art (PSA) is an independent program launched in partnership with Yuz Museum in September 2015. Known for public-access, Yuz Project Space of Art invites artists to create site-specific works or projects where it engages boldly with the museum, the surroundings and audiences. Combining “a project + an exhibition,” the program aims to present the interaction between the artists, time, and space.

Yuz Project Space of Art is where innovation and creation cross path. It provided an innovative platform for artists, both Chinese and international, to use this space to generate conversations toward each other with their own unique and groundbreaking artworks. Furthermore, the space invites artists to breakthrough their usual practice and explore all kinds of possibilities of contemporary art.

About Yuz Museum

Yuz Museum, officially opened in May 2014 in Shanghai, is a contemporary art museum founded by Mr. Budi Tek, a Chinese-Indonesian entrepreneur, philanthropist, and collector. As one of the first non-profit institutions along the West Bund Culture Corridor, the museum has been following its founder, Budi Tek’s philosophy of “collecting to share”, with the mission of “drawing the world’s attention to Shanghai” and “bringing art into people’s daily lives”. Committed to advancing the development of contemporary Chinese art, actively engaging in the field of art education, and promoting cultural dialogues between East and West as its own responsibility, and exploring to answer the question “It takes ten years to grow trees, a hundred years to grow people, then how many years to grow a life of art?” By doing so, it has successfully established a bi-directional parallel between “history” and “future” throughout all its exhibitions and developed a variety of public outreach programs. It introduces the Chinese public to contemporary art and the world to Shanghai and China through its exhibitions that span across China and the West.

Since its opening, Yuz Museum has been the home of many internationally acclaimed exhibitions such as the world’s largest Giacometti Retrospective, the “Rain Room”, the Asia premieres of Andy Warhol’s “Shadows”, KAWS’s “Where the End Starts”, “Charlie Chaplin: A Vision,” “Yoshitomo Nara” , “Watering the Desert: Contemporary Art from Qatar”, etc., which have had a great impact on domestic and international culture, art, education, and other fields.

Yuz Museum has been active in the world of art and has launched in-depth collaborations with many internationally renowned art museums. On October 31, 2019, Yuz Museum Shanghai entered into a landmark collaboration with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Qatar Museums to jointly develop and share exhibitions and programs across their institutions.

With its continual development, the museum has been looking into possibilities of further expansion and made its home in the core area of Shanghai Greater Hongqiao International Business District. On May 17, 2023, as the new venue of Yuz Museum at Panlong Tiandi was completed and opened to the public, the museum launched the 2nd phase of its strategic plan: YUZ FLOW. In the coming ten years, the museum will carry on with Mr. Budi Tek’s philosophy, further explore how to use “art to grow generations to come”, take “flow with Yuz, breathe with art” as its vision for the 2nd stage, and make a gradual layout shift from a “white box” to a “satellite network”, marking the start of the museum’s 2nd chapter with a brand-new model: “one main space + various encounters”.

In 2024, the Yuz Museum launched a children’s art education project – YUZ DOLAN, which has been planned and developed by our expert and innovation team for many years. “DOLAN” is derived from the Indonesian Javanese language, meaning “play”, and its opening will reshape the museum space into an “art playground” for the participants. Specifically tailored for children, this project is launching diverse content ecosystems including creative art courses, art museum education charity events, and artist’s workshops, which are deeply rooted within the Yuz Museum’s professional experience in art exhibitions, research collections, and public education. We are committed to creating an artistic paradise for children to grow happily, express themselves, and unleash their creativity.

About LACMA

Located on the Pacific Rim, LACMA is the largest art museum in the western United States, with a collection of more than 150,000 objects that illuminate 6,000 years of artistic expression across the globe. Committed to showcasing a multitude of art histories, LACMA exhibits and interprets works of art from new and unexpected points of view that are informed by the region’s rich cultural heritage and diverse population. LACMA’s spirit of experimentation is reflected in its work with artists, technologists, and thought leaders as well as in its regional, national, and global partnerships to share collections and programs, create pioneering initiatives, and engage new audiences.

For more information visit：https://www.lacma.org

About Qatar Museums

Qatar Museums (QM), the nation’s preeminent institution for art and culture, provides authentic and inspiring cultural experiences through a growing network of museums, heritage sites, festivals, public art installations, and programmes. QM preserves and expands the nation’s cultural offerings, sharing art and culture from Qatar, the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (MENASA) region with the world and enriching the lives of citizens, residents, and visitors.

Under the patronage of His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and led by its Chairperson, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, QM has made Qatar a vibrant centre for the arts, culture, and education in the Middle East and beyond. QM is integral to the goal of developing an innovative, diverse, and progressive nation, bringing people together to ignite new thinking, spark critical cultural conversations, and amplify the voices of Qatar’s people. Since its founding in 2005, QM has overseen the development of museums and festivals including the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) and MIA Park, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, the National Museum of Qatar (NMOQ), 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, QM Gallery Al Riwaq, QM Gallery Katara, the Tasweer Qatar Photo Festival, and Design Doha. Future projects include Dadu: Children’s Museum of Qatar, Art Mill Museum, Qatar Auto Museum and the Lusail Museum.

Through its newly created Creative Hub, QM also initiates and supports projects – such as the Fire Station Artist in Residence, the Tasweer Qatar Photo Festival, M7, the creative hub for innovation, fashion and design, and Liwan Design Studios and Labs – that nurture artistic talent and create opportunities to build a strong and sustainable cultural infrastructure.

Animating everything that Qatar Museums does is an authentic connection to Qatar and its heritage, a steadfast commitment to inclusivity and accessibility, and a belief in creating value through invention. For more information visit ：https://qm.org.qa