The Mailroom |《传达室》

Installation Sound Designer and Arduino Programmer

2024 Yale-China Residency Artist Project

Presented by the International Festival of Arts and Ideas

The Mailroom is an experiential installation that reimagines the ethereal space of traditional Chinese mailrooms where information, objects, relationships, stories, and emotions converge, intertwine, and eventually disappear. At this event, participants can shape their own visiting experience by interacting with the installation at their own pace. Through this multi-sensory exploration, artists from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University delve into the intricacies of community formation and transformation, inviting reflections on the enigmatic essence of collective memory.

Producer: Joy Xiaoyue Chen 陈小悦
Associate Producer: Hope Binfeng Ding 丁玢奉
Set Designer: Jennifer Yuqing Cao 曹语晴
Sound Designer & Arduino: Xi (Zoey) Lin 林曦
Lighting Designer:
Yung-Hung Sung 宋永鴻
Celia Chen 陈蔚清
Costume & Fabric Designer: Lyle Laize Qin 秦莱泽
Projection Designer: John Horzen 约翰·霍尔岑
Project Manager: Steph Lo 盧胤沂
Technical Director: Cathy Ho 何家寶
Stage Manager: Chloe Xiaonan Liu 刘晓南

Opening or closing each mailbox activates a button connected to the Arduino, which sends a MIDI signal to trigger QLab audio, subsequently triggering lighting and projection cues.

Arduino Signal Flow

Three mailboxes are filled with rice, beans, and pearl barley, inviting participants to immerse their hands in the grains. Embedded microphones capture the contact sounds and play them back into the space.

All food and grains have been distributed to team members or composted, ensuring nothing is wasted.

Soldering and Crafting 🧵