Empty Network

Empty Network is a semi-structured audiovisual improvisation inspired by the metaphysics of East Asian Buddhism as signified by Indra’s net. The visuals, programmed by the composer in Jitter, feature a 3D model of the “Iron Seated Buddha” from the National Museum of Korea.

This work represents three concepts found in Indra’s net: emptiness, dependent-arising, and interpenetration. The 3D model itself, scanned and uploaded by the museum, is “empty,” a representation of a representation, but also non-empty. This work is dependent-arising through the museum and the Internet. The interconnection of phenomena, or non-duality, is illustrated through the performer’s manipulations of a single tone.