展覽論述 |
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文/策展人 田名璋
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Curatorial Discourse
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在工業革命之後,人與自然的關係產生劇變,人類開始大量生產和消費,物質文明席捲全球,我們所處的環境與自然的關係漸行漸遠,人類看似可以獨自地在自己建構的城市生存,越來越人工化的人類世界。不過,在上個世紀末開始,因為人類的過度使用自然,也讓大自然產生反撲,全球性的環境變化帶來了無比的災難,在這二三十年來是極大的改變,我們像溫水裡的青蛙一般,雖然面臨災難,但在各種權利力量的拉扯妥協之下,只有消極的對抗。
在俄羅斯導演安德烈.塔可夫斯基(Andrei Tarkovsky)的電影「飛向太空」(Solaris)裡,有著隱含的環境子題。片頭是非常「泥土」的家,之後就直接進到太空艙的主要場景,完全脫離地球/土地的非自然空間,主角經驗了許多超驗現象,除了暗示著外太空有著神秘enigmatic的能量之外,也暗示了人類科學理性和生命情感的矛盾。這是對於遠離自然(觀念和距離上)的最深層反思。 曉蕙的白晝之眠錄像創作,是在自然與工業混雜的環境裡,在白天和完全暴露的情況下,反其道而行的讓人們睡眠,如同我們現今遇到的全球性災難一般,人類就像赤裸著身體,無包覆地接受著外界各種環境元素的干擾,無法躲藏,在這樣的情況 |
下,原本養人生息的睡眠反而成了焦慮。另外,人們也無法預知睡著之後,在無意識之下,伴隨而來的會是何種處境,這或許是做為每一個個體的人類最深層的焦慮,這也反應了在赤裸環境下,人們的脆弱不堪。
而錄像裡的曉蕙在執行一個奇特的任務,用海水、麵粉、果實等,畫出疆界,像是保護著睡眠者一般,尤其在此最脆弱的時刻。但這作用是徒勞無功的,在這海與地的交界處,海浪、消波塊、廢橋、漁船、飛機、沙灘車等強烈的干擾下,一人的微弱力量,無法抵擋這巨大的外在因素,而她以此行為來宣告,微弱地做著她心中的保護實踐。 這次的環境錄像線上展覽,除了反應了環境劇變下的全球情境,我們也因為近期疫情影響,人們無法面對面,我們期望透過網路聚集一起,而這也是回應這未來有可能(或是現在已經是)的世界景象,如何透過網路世界,讓觀眾可以親近藝術,在環境議題下,反思人類與環境的關係,我們該何去何從,透過藝術家的提問,激盪一波波的內心漣漪。 |
Written by the curator / Ming-Chang Tien
The Industrial Revolution drastically transformed the human-nature relationship. Humans began large scale production and consumption. As material civilization has swept across the globe, the human race gradually drifts apart from the natural environment. We seem to have been habituated to dwelling in the concrete cities—a more and more artificial world we build. However, natural disasters have begun to plague humankind in the recent ever-changing two to three decades as man continues recklessly destroying the natural habitats in the name of development. Like a boiled frog, we are prone to accept death by thousand little cuts. Facing all kinds of natural disasters, humans passively waiting for any new solution as we are subdued by different political forces.
The Soviet director, Andrei Tarkovsky’s science fiction masterpiece, Solaris, had an environment subtheme. The film opens with scenes of a very “earthly” home when the protagonist spends his last day on Earth before departing for the space station, setting up a pronounced terrestrial nature which withdraws from the Earth/earth. The protagonist experiences a lot of transcendental phenomena, signifying that there is enigmatic energy present in the space as well as that there is a paradox lying between human reason and passion for life. The film interrogates the philosophies of humanity being away from nature (conceptually and physically). “Sleeping in Daytime”—Liu hsiao-hui’s work of video art—asks participants to sleep under all the conditions which are unusual when it comes to falling asleep: they have to sleep in an environment surrounded by both natural and industrial settings during daytime. This setting resembles those global disasters we encounter nowadays: we are interrupted by a lot of environmental elements and exposed to a world with no |
way to escape. Under these conditions, the state of sleeping has transformed itself from something that humans need when we rest to something that makes us anxious. Besides, as the world after humans fall asleep without any consciousness is unknown and unpredictable, the work of Liu also reflects the fear which resides in an individual’s innermost part of their soul as well as our fragility when being exposed to the natural environment.
Executing a bizarre task in her video artwork, Liu uses waves, flour, seeds, etc as materials to create lines that metaphorically represent protection against these peculiarly fragile moments of humankind. However, the actions are fruitless. Being at the borderline state between the ocean and the land, waves, concrete tetrapods, abandoned bridges, fishing boats, airplanes, beach buggies, etc become gigantic obstructions that block an individual’s will to protect the natural environment from decaying and decreasing. Though meager as it seems, Liu’s actions reveal her determination to carry out this kind of will from the bottom of her heart. This online exhibition of environmental video art reflects a true situation we face under the drastic global change of environment. Being not able to see one another in person because of the pandemic, we hope to unite people through the internet which might become (or has already become) a vehicle for people to come together as a whole through art. How to reflect on human-nature relationship with environmental issues bearing in mind is a practice to ponder on humankind’s future. The ripple effect which disseminates these pieces of information takes place as the artists present their works to the world. |
創作自述 |
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文/藝術家 劉曉蕙
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Artist's Statement
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設置一張鐵床置立於白晝蒼穹與大地之間,我邀請三組參與者進入錄像中的鐵床上進行睡眠,白晝並不是一般人習常的睡眠時間,更何況旁邊還有十幾位拍攝團隊的工作人員環視在側,受邀的參與者在3小時內要「努力」的在戶外環境中睡眠,整個事件過程中是沒有行為的行為。
我在臉上塗滿藍色顏料,這面具般的彩繪讓我失去個人的身份,還原為土地上生存著的存在者,是與鳥獸、甲蟲、蛞蝓等同樣層次的生物,影片中我行為著汲水澆水、採集種籽、或用麵粉篩出分隔線(藝術家網站),藍臉人與睡眠者既沒有互動也沒有交流,兀自存在同一時空,創作的所有元素之間的關係突兀並列著,是無來由的午後假寐之夢。 大部分的事情是需要人的努力才能成就,不論是造屋、築橋、鋪路等生業行為,或是登山健行的休閒活動,一切皆是如此的需要被努力達成,但卻有一些事情反而是要不努力才能達到,例如「睡眠狀態」是人要保持不活動不努力的狀態,睡眠才會主動不請自來,但我在「白晝之眠」創作中,安排在不該睡眠的時間睡眠,在不該睡眠的地方睡眠,在無隱私之空間「努力」的進入睡眠,完全違反睡眠所需的條件,完全無視睡眠的常理法則。 |
為什麼要營造這麼不尋常的場景?是要嘲諷現代人連睡眠也得非常的努力?還是真的想要回歸自然在蒼穹下安身立命?或是要
表達當代人安眠的難能可貴?或心理忿忿地在抗議後工業時代已經沒有真正的自然可言,連同睡眠?抑或想憑一己之力魔法般地創造奇觀,讓人在亮恍恍的世界裡安眠? 哲學家列維納斯所言「失眠」的焦慮正是自身感知存有得唏唏作響,身體又無法行動作為,如果身體無法感受到被安全地置放,如果存在的不安像氣球與針尖的距離僅剩指縫之間,如果人必須暴露在遼闊的世界毫無遮蔽,這樣的境地世界會對我「實顯」什麼?在藝術創作的安排中,其本身是否已經包含存有真實顯現的一部分?是否我能安心以對而無欲所求? 在不安的世界之中祈求著安住,在無護衛的空間之中祈求著平安,在無常理的事件之中祈求著真理,創作者是多麼想護衛沒有庇護的存在者,多麼想安慰失去房舍的無家可歸者,海天如母親般對著那還不適應這風雨無定的世界的孩子輕唱搖籃曲,而擊碎浪花的消波塊、覆蓋植披的廢棄座橋、巨型雕塑般聳立在防風林的水泥群塊正幽靈般浮現在當代地景,母女、夫妻或自身的關係人參與其中,如是宇宙有序,遭逢有時,創作者是人類藝術通過的產道,是隱退到作品後面的存在者,我的環境錄像「實顯」自若是,人物實存蒼穹沙鷗自若是。 |
Setting an iron bed during a bright day under the sky, I invited three participants to be recorded sleeping in that iron bed. Being obstructive to habits of sleeping,not to mention with a whole shooting crew with more than ten people surrounding them, participants need to “try hard” to fall asleep in three hours in an outdoor environment.The whole process can essentially be deemed as a mute presence.
With my face being painted blue which symbolizes a metaphorical mask,the loss of my personal identity brings me back to the state of being a mere temporal-spatial object on earth, equal to birds and beasts, insects and reptiles. In the video, I do watering and filling water into the pot, gathering seeds, or sieving them into dividing lines with flour over and over again.(Artist’s website) There is zero interaction and conversation between the person with blue face and those sleepers. All the elements come to a place in which their relations are exhibiting in an awkward manner, exhibiting a repose without any reason. Most activities, ranging from building a house,a bridge or paving a road, to hiking and leisure activities, need to be accomplished with a lot of physical exertion. However, some activities have to be achieved without any physical exertion, and sleep, as one has to remain in a state of doing nothing in order to fall asleep, is one of them. My work“Daytime of Sleeping” asks participants to sleep under all the conditions which are unusual when it comes to falling asleep: they have to sleep during daytime, in a public place, without privacy, and with a great deal of physical exertion. What is the point of making such an unusual scene? Is it to ridicule modern people that we have to work very hard even to sleep? Or do we really want to return to nature and settle down under the sky? Or to express the preciousness of contemporary people's sleep? Or angrily protesting that the post-industrial age has no real nature to speak of, along with sleep? Or do we want to magically create spectacles on our own and put people to sleep in a dimly lit world? |
For the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, the anxiety presents itself most acutely in the experience of insomnia which is the experience in its highest metaphysical dimension of an empty, mute presence. With people being put in an environment which makes people feel insecure in their body, facing the fear that makes people feel like walking on thin ice, and being exposed to the universe with no way to escape, how will the concept of being-in-the-world become one’s ontological proof of their existence? In the process of making a piece of artwork, does it suggest the possibility that art itself has already proven us the fact of being-in-the-world? Can I be at ease with what I want without asking for anything?
Praying for living safely when one is in an unsettling world, praying for peace when one is left unguarded, praying for the truth when one resides in these socially and politically troubling and disorienting times, creators become a vessel for people living without a shelter and a comfort to people whose home has been shattered and become homeless. The world is full of images of the mother earth singing lullaby to children who haven’t accustomed to this unsettling world, waves being beaten down by concrete tetrapods, abandoned bridges being overgrown with weeds, concrete buildings standing upright as planted windbreaks with ghosts roaming in between, and people whose relationship as mother-and-daughter or husband-and-wife being intertwined with one another. One’s existence is carried out by prescribed orders laid down by the Universe. Creators are a vehicle for expressing universal emotions as well as the invisible presence retreating to their world of art in which my work “Sleeping in Daytime” presents itself to its viewers. Humans come to their place as a temporal-spatial object in the world, just as other creatures and objects existing in this Universe. |
策展人簡介 |
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田名璋
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Curator/ Ming-Chang Tien
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自1993年從事藝術創作以來,長期聚焦在鄉愁此一主題上,探討個人離開「家」之後,對於土地和親人的思念。2010年開始探索自我的童年,回到故鄉挖掘孩時的記憶。2013年以來,對於自己身處的台灣街頭景觀有深切的體悟,認為是台灣人表現生存與創意的文化特色之一,開始系列的街頭景觀創作,儼然是一種對台灣文化是什麼的深刻提問,可視為作者回到自己的土地上,一解鄉愁及追求認同的過程。創作媒材主要以攝影與錄像為主,依據內容需求,會以裝置形式呈現。近年除了教學與創作之外,也投身在策展工作上,在校內推動自由場域創作的「東華角落藝術節」,校外則經營「好地下藝術空間」,做為個人創作與協助他人創作的理念開展。目前專任於國立東華大學藝術與設計學系,並為好地下藝術空間藝術總監。
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Starting his works of art in 1993, Tien has focused on the theme of nostalgia for a very long time. His works constitute nostalgic memories about one’s hometown and family after they leave their home. Tien began to go back to his own childhood in order to resonate with his childhood memories. Since 2013, he has been deeply fascinated by the surrounding of Taiwanese streets which has been deemed as an icon of Taiwanese people expressing their living styles and creativity. His series of street photography brings viewers to question what can really represent Taiwanese culture, and brings Tien himself, too, to his own land in a quest for reconciling with his homesickness and in search for his self-identity. Most of Tien’s works are photography and video art; sometimes, depending on the contents, he works with installations as well. In recent years, in addition to teaching and creating, he has also worked as a curator, as the main organizer of Dong Hwa Corner Art Festival, and as the person in charge of Good Underground Art Space in which he continues his creative works as well as helps others curate their exhibitions. He is now an associate professor in the Department of Arts and Design, National Dong Hwa University and the Art Director of Good Underground Art Space.
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藝術家簡介 |
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劉曉蕙
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Artist/ Hsiao-Hui Liu
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自高中時代開始學習紀實攝影,藝術創作內容以關注人類和自然環境的關係為主; 2000年於花蓮七星潭海岸創作環境藝術,2010 年後嘗試結合地景裝置、行為藝術、裝置藝術交互呈顯,2017年後以錄像藝術為主,經由觀景視窗攝獵影像,進而開始謀劃自身行為涉入影像,邀請民眾參與行為藝術進入拍攝,其影像作品猶如天地和人物互為自顯的宇宙中詩意存有的劇場,「我即是風景」自然成其為是。
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Having been learning documentary photography since high school, the artist’s content of art creation is mainly concerned with the relationship between human beings and the natural environment. In 2000, she created environmental art on the coast of Hualien Chishingtan Beach (Chishingtan), Hualien. After 2010, she tried to combine landscape installations, performance art, and installation art for interactive presentation. After 2017, the artist focused on video art. She hunted images through the lens of the camera, and then began to involve herself in the video, inviting the public to participate in the performance art to enter the shooting. Her works are like poetry in the universe where the world and the characters are self-evident. In the theater of existence, "I am the landscape" naturally becomes what it should be.
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