NYCU’s Tech-Art Innovation Takes Center Stage Across Europe and Asia

(中央社訊息服務20251202 11:08:18)National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) Assistant Professor and new media artist Ivan Chen-Hsiu Liu is turning the tremors of the Earth into a global artistic sensation. His latest interactive installation, Echoes of the Land, has been making waves across Europe and Asia—featured at Spain’s L.E.V. Festival, ISEA 2025 in Seoul, the Bauhaus Museum Weimar in Germany, and Austria’s iconic Ars Electronica Festival.

The work’s international run not only showcases Taiwan’s growing prominence in technological art but also signals NYCU’s expanding influence in cross-disciplinary creative research.

In Echoes of the Land, seismic science becomes art. Inspired by the spring-block model used by seismologists to simulate tectonic stress release, Liu transforms a rigorous physics system into a living, breathing installation. Audience movements trigger “micro-quakes,” activating real-time sound synthesis and shifting visual motifs—inviting viewers to step into the tension between human activity and the planet’s geological rhythms.

The installation is equal parts scientific experiment and artistic meditation, crafted by Prof. Liu with NYCU graduate students Tsung-En Hao and Ching Shieh, who led interaction design, visual composition, and sensor integration.

It is research, creation, engineering, and storytelling—seamlessly fused.

At Spain’s L.E.V. Festival, curators highlighted the work’s ability to “merge art and science to explore how humans perceive their interventions in nature,” immersing audiences in an environmental experience shaped by sound and light.

In Seoul, Echoes of the Land entered the global spotlight at ISEA 2025, where discussions centered on AI, ecological futures, and sustainability. The installation emerged as one of Asia’s standout contributions, resonating with researchers, artists, and technologists alike.

The momentum continued as the piece traveled to Germany’s Bauhaus Museum Weimar in summer 2025, where it was exhibited alongside landmark works that defined the evolution of design. There, Liu’s installation formed a striking dialogue between historic Bauhaus principles and today’s algorithmic, sensor-driven aesthetics.

But the capstone arrived in Austria. At the Ars Electronica Festival—often called the “Academy Awards of electronic art”—Echoes of the Land earned praise from both seasoned critics and curious visitors. Its fusion of environmental themes, audience participation, and scientific modeling positioned it as one of Taiwan’s strongest voices in experimental media art.

Reflecting on the installation’s global journey, Prof. Liu said he hopes the piece can “show the world the unique beauty that emerges when science and art come together, and demonstrate Taiwan’s imagination and creative power in experimental media art.”

With its successful multi-country tour, Echoes of the Land does more than showcase one artist’s creativity—it amplifies Taiwan’s cultural presence in the international conversation on ecology, technology, and the future of art.