In July, artist Beiyi Wang took over Fabrica for a week. As part of the Making Space artist residency, Beiyi and their team put on the work-in-progress performance: 'Fluid Whispers'.

It was a powerful, meditative piece, and we are honoured to have hosted it. Our Summer Intern, Timoth Woodbridge (studying English & Creative Writing at the University of Sussex), wrote up his experience of the performance here.

Beiyi is a London-based interdisciplinary artist whose practice centres on healing arts, installation, performance, and socially engaged work, and their projects foster sensory awareness and collective consciousness. We recently interviewed Beiyi about the residency. Interview below:

Q: What was the inspiration behind the project?

A: The inspiration for 'Fluid Whispers' stems from my fascination with daily rituals and my observations of meditation and sound healing experiences—both my own and others.

I realised that even in the quietest environments, our minds continuously generate a stream of thoughts... without conscious intervention, our minds can drift far from the present moment, carried away by this endless stream of wandering thoughts, taking us away from our original healing intention.

This realisation led me to wonder: how can we rely on external intervention to achieve a conscious balance with these wandering thoughts—not eliminating them, but preventing them from becoming overwhelming; and create a truly surrendered healing experience where participants can effortlessly focus on the present moment?

Q: How did the project start?

A: [I invited] several friends to my home for an experimental session combining singing bowl therapy with unconscious drawing.

I established a rule: they could only make a mark when the bowl sound was present and had to stop immediately when the sound ceased.

During the silence between sounds, they could rest or change to different coloured pencils or materials, but any new mark could only begin when the bowl sound resumed, stopping the instant the sound ended.

This rule required them to actively engage three senses simultaneously—hearing, sight, and bodily movement—while maintaining active consideration of colour choices, placing their complete attention in the present moment.

Everyone's thoughts, including mine, had remained anchored in that room throughout the entire experience. This inspired me to develop the project further and practice it in larger environments, allowing more people to experience 'presence' within an expansive, multi-sensory sound healing field.

Q: What is the significance of bathing in the piece?

A: When I focus completely on bathing, the flow of thoughts in my mind maintains a perfect rhythm, sufficient to inspire me without becoming overwhelming or causing me to lose myself in excessive thinking. In these moments, I'm like a boat moored at shore, gently swaying with the waves yet never drifting away, because my anchor is firmly planted in the sandy bottom.

In this solitary space, it becomes a moment of complete self-communion where all emotions are welcomed, and inspiration frequently emerges.

Breaking it down, the act of bathing fully engages our senses: eyes, ears, nose, and body—all participate in this ritual.

Q: What does the project mean to you?

A: If I were to describe this project's place in my heart with a single image, I would choose emptiness. In my understanding, emptiness is both tranquil and full of possibilities, just like the state I enter while bathing—seemingly void yet rich with content. This state of emptiness is what I hoped to create through this project, allowing experiencers and audiences to perceive this sense of empty fullness.

When I witnessed the performer and audience entering this state of emptiness, achieving that focus on the present moment, I felt my vision advance meaningfully. I must emphasise that this project possesses no beginning or end, no starting point or destination. Rather, it should cycle through our lives continuously.

Q: What did you learn from your Making Space residency, and how will the project develop?

A: The reflections of light on the water produced unexpectedly beautiful effects, which I now wish to explore further. In addition, just before the performance, the performer was extremely nervous, so I spontaneously offered her ten minutes of guided sound healing. This intervention had a noticeable calming effect and has inspired me to consider incorporating a guided 'entry' process into future performances.

Overall, the residency did not merely bring the project to completion; it expanded my vision. In the future, I would like to integrate the interplay of light and water more intentionally, create greater opportunities for audience interaction, and perhaps transform the set into a participatory environment similar to a Playground.

Learn more about our Making Space Residency and stay up to date with new projects by joining our mailing list.