適應中：失落的資本

On adaptation: the lost capital

 

2020 / 雙頻黑白有聲錄像

2020 / 2 channel HD video installation (B&W, sound)

 

這件作品是以此藝術團隊過去的兩件作品為基礎，所完成的全新創作。兩件脈絡相承的舊作分別為〈365天：生活美術館計畫〉和〈適應中〉。

 

〈365天：生活美術館計畫〉是從2015年到2016年為期一年的藝術計畫，旨在倡議移工居留權。藉由22位來自泰國、東盟國家和其他國際藝術家和研究人員，分別擔任三周駐區藝術家，和社區居住的合法緬甸移工，進行藝術研究和共同創作，以互為主體和文化差異為原則，促進相互的理解與學習，並交流有關流散移工和勞務移民的相關議題；同時，對於多元文化與差異文化涉及的文化悖論，進行開放性的討論。〈適應中〉則是一件錄像作品。探索身體如何為了平衡和前進，必須不斷艱難地調整軀體動作。

 

以上述兩件作品為藍本的這件新作〈適應中：失落的資本〉，結合自然場景和3D動畫，將一名身體強壯的女性身影，投射到漂流在遼闊海洋中的竹筏上。她的外型略顯奇特，擁有極長的頭髮，幾乎遮住大半臉龐，碩大的雙耳，和獸爪般的雙腳。她的臉讓藝術家想起〈365天：生活美術館計畫〉中擔任計畫輪廓勾勒（project mapping）的緬甸移工。翻騰的波浪和強勁的海風，讓她難以維 持身體的平衡狀態，但她奮力地揚起巨大的、軀幹狀的風箏。這是一件邊緣者生存處境的隱喻。長久以來，邊緣化人群的身體，一直在經濟產業鏈中扮演重要角色。紀律性的身體建設，被視為一種物質資本；因此，文明社會發展出一整套控制系統，以確保勞動身體的最高生產價值。

 

This brand new installation is based on two previous works created by the artist team within the same context, viz., 365 days: LIFE MUSE and On adaptation.

 

Carried out between 2015 and 2016, 365 days: LIFE MUSE was a one-year project advocating migrant workers’ right of abode. It invited a total of 22 artists and researchers from Thailand, ASEAN and other countries to work as artists-in-residence for three weeks, during which they were required to collaborate with the Burmese workers in the community on artistic research and creation. Embracing the principles of inter-subjectivity and cultural variation, the project facilitated not only the participants’ reciprocal understanding and learning, but also their idea exchange concerning the conditions of migrant workers; and a wide-ranging discussion on the cultural paradox in pluralistic cultures and cultural differences ensued. On adaptation was a work of video art dedicated to exploring how the human body adapts its physical motion to keep balance and move forward.

 

Drawing on the two aforementioned works, On adaptation: The lost capital presents a riveting fusion of natural scenes and 3D animation. It projects the image of a woman in a powerful physique onto a bamboo raft cast adrift on the sea. She has slightly peculiar physical characteristics. Apart from her exceptionally large ears and claw-like feet, her hair is so long that it covers almost half of her face. Her face is reminiscent of the Burmese worker in charge of project mapping in 365 days: LIFE MUSE. The rolling waves and gusty wind from the sea disrupt the balance of her body. All these hardships notwithstanding, she strives to stretch her giant torso as if it were a kite. This work is tantamount to a visual metaphor for the conditions of marginalized people, whose bodies have long been indispensable in the industry chain. Discipline-based body construction is taken to be a sort of material capital. Accordingly, our civilized society has evolved a full set of control system, insofar as to maximize labor productivity and added-value per body.