Ying Wang

HOFFNUNG?

 

Dieses Jahr war geprägt von einem außergewöhnlichen Verlust an Optimismus, den wir in fast allem, was uns umgibt, beobachten können. Selbst im Vergleich zum letzten Jahr fällt auf, dass immer mehr Menschen ein Gefühl der Ohnmacht verspüren und mit Angst in die Zukunft blicken, weil sie glauben, nichts ändern zu können. Dies betrifft auch Menschen aus dem Kunstbereich. Gleichzeitig sollte sich die Kunst fragen, wie sie diesen Zustand überwinden und darauf reagieren kann.

 

Wir haben die Komponisten von ECLAT 2026 gebeten, über folgende Fragen nachzudenken:

 

🔹 Ist Musik ein Mittel, um etwas in der Welt zu verändern–wenn auch nur in geringem Maße?
🔹 Kann Musik zumindest ein emotionaler Zufluchtsort für die Zuhörer sein?
🔹 Oder ist Musik vor allem ein Mittel zur Reflexion?
🔹 Ist Musik in der Lage, die Zeit, in der wir leben, einzufangen bzw. wiederzugeben? Oder ist sie etwas Separates–zeitlos, jenseits des Augenblicks und vielleicht sogar im Gegensatz dazu? Wie stehen Sie selbst dazu und wie spiegelt sich das in der Musik wider, die Sie dieses Jahr bei ECLAT präsentieren?

 

»Can music change the world?

 

I’m not sure it can change systems —

 

but I’m certain it can change how we perceive the world.

 

In a time ruled by algorithms and efficiency,

 

live music reminds us that bodies are present,

 

time is shared, and this moment cannot be repeated.

 

Music isn’t always a refuge.

 

Sometimes it intensifies discomfort or uncertainty.

 

But in that resonance, people feel recognized.

 

For me, music belongs to its time —

 

and at the same time, resists it.

 

It’s not an escape from reality,

 

but a way of listening more deeply to the world we live in« Ying Wang

 

 

»Is music a way of changing anything in the world–even in a small way?
I approach this question with a cautious optimism. Music does not directly alter political systems or social structures, but it can profoundly reshape how we perceive the world. And changes in perception are often the most durable and fundamental form of change.

 

In an era increasingly governed by algorithms, efficiency, and automation, music–especially live music–reasserts the presence of the body, the reality of shared time, and the irreducibility of human encounter. This reminder, subtle as it may be, already constitutes a meaningful intervention.

 

Can music be, at the very least, an emotional refuge for listeners?
Rather than »refuge,« I prefer to speak of resonance or affective transmission. Music does not always soothe; it can intensify discomfort, melancholy, or uncertainty. Yet precisely through this amplification, listeners may experience a form of recognition–the sense that their inner states are acknowledged rather than silenced.

 

For me, listening always operates on two levels: rational and emotional. Music can be analyzed, structured, and dissected–but it can also be entrusted to the body, absorbed without mediation. In this sense, music is not an escape from reality, but a deeper mode of engaging with it.

 

Is music, above all, a way of reflection?
I would agree, with one important condition: reflection is not automatic. It requires a willingness to listen. Music does not deliver answers; it creates situations–temporal and perceptual conditions in which reflection becomes possible.

 

For the composer, music is a mode of thinking. For the listener, it becomes reflective only if they choose to enter the space and time the music opens.

 

Is music capable of capturing or echoing the time we live in? Or is it something separate–timeless, beyond the moment, perhaps even in opposition to it?
I do not see this as an either–or proposition. Music is inevitably shaped by its time: technologies, social structures, and power relations leave traces within it. At the same time, music can maintain a critical distance from the present–even generate friction or resistance against it.

 

It is within this tension that music gains temporal depth. It belongs to the moment of its creation, yet it is not exhausted by that moment. Music is not a timeless object, but a time-based experience that can be reactivated, reinterpreted, and re-heard across different historical contexts.«

 

YW. 25.01.26