Instruments of Curiosity • Monstar Cao

Instruments of Curiosity

Monstar Cao (b. 1995)

This image, captured by photographer Ansel Adams in the 1960s at UC Berkeley, is part of his photograph series Lost in the Wilderness—a haunting departure from his iconic landscapes. Here, in this picture, the wilderness is not in nature, but within the human psyche: a clinical room, a restrained monkey, and a man quietly smiling at the edge of cruelty. Instruments of Curiosity is a sonic response to this tension—a work that probes the unsettling space between technological progress and ethical erosion.

Drawing from the analog synth textures of that era, the piece builds an immersive, mechanical soundscape where circuits hum, buttons click, and machines breathe. These are not just background sounds—they are the protagonists. They are the instruments: both musical and surgical, both “playful” and cruel.

At its core, the work questions the price of curiosity. A moment of seemingly cheerful experimentation—reflected in the music’s fleeting, ironic brightness—is soon drowned in distortion and disarray. When experimental electric guitar enters, it stretched and distorted, shifting wildly in rhythm and volume. It lashes out, then retreats, mimicking the unstable energy of the experiment itself.

So, is this science, or performance? Compassion, or control?
Instruments of Curiosity does not answer. It simply holds the mirror.

Image: Ansel Adams, UCB.66.12, December, 1966/2024. Scan from original negative. Collection of the California Museum of Photography at UCR ARTS, 1987.0027.6.UCB.66.12