Broken Bridge 《断桥》

Broken Bridge is an audio representation of an aged bridge coming to the end of its time ushering people over a small waterway. Now in the last quarter of its life, the bridge creaks and crumbles with each traveler that passes but continues to hold their narratives, a snapshot into each of their particular journeys. From the beginning of its descent into decay until its eventual demise, the music within recounts the final stories the bridge’s voyagers have to tell. The central instrument in this work is a modified Chinese lute designed by thruoutin and engineer and musician Mengqi. This electrified zither, named the Mengqipa (a portmanteau of Mengqi and pipa), met its own demise shortly after recording, its bridge snapping in two. Broken Bridge therefore holds the final recordings of this one-of-a-kind instrument, embodying the countless journeys that had gone before. Broken Bridge is an invocation of faith towards virtue. Six pieces full of will and consummation.