AZADE
Opening reception 28/08
Yue Yuan
A King Listens
2025
Artist book
Softcover, np.
English
Edition of 200 copies
A King Listens was inspired by a short story by Italo Calvino (Un Re in ascolto, from Under the Jaguar Sun, 1984), about a paranoid king who hears the echoes of insurrection echoing endlessly against the walls of his palace, which has been transformed into a gigantic ear. Imposing repetition on his subjects gives the king the assurance he needs to control his paranoid ideas and prevent them from invading his thoughts. As long as the sounds remain similar, his reign will endure. However, a new sound reaches him: the song of a young woman. The silvery timbre of her voice enveloped his heart and troubled his soul. He tries to reach her, to capture her, to embrace and caress the sound of her song. But he fails, only to find himself drowned in a world of his own perception.
The text of Yue Yuan’s subtle interpretation consists exclusively of words relating to the lexical field of hearing.
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