2017年10月12日 星期四

多歧:2017阿川國際行為藝術節 策展宣言 Curatorial Manifesto



   一 的 複 數                          



在爲新的策展整理文字論述時,「一的複數」突現腦中,不知從何而來的靈感,久久不去。從事藝術創作多年,體驗到靈感惠我良多,於是便留下它。仔細想想,這詞充滿矛盾無從理解。什麼叫做「一的複數」?是111111? 3個1,8個1?還是1s?無解!但再仔細分析,這詞又彷彿蘊含各種想像與歧異!

首先,「一」是個數字,屬於數學範疇。「複數」則可以是數學範疇,也可以是英文範疇。以我出身外文系的背景,複數對我而言自然是以偏向英文範疇來理解的。所以「一的複數」這個詞於我可以視為是數學+英文的概念,也就是一種「跨領域」的概念!

再來,在英文裡,「一」指的是單數,例如一個、一隻、一張。複數則是指一個以上的數量。以此推論,「一的複數」根本無法成立,因為「一」既是單數,何以它會有複數呢?所以「一的複數」完全是一個在邏輯上講不通的詞,是學校作業考試卷上會被打叉的一個詞。可我卻何以視其為珍饈在此花費精力時間去思考它呢?是我腦殘?是我瘋了?還是我竟不為邏輯理性現實所侷限,可以兩腳一蹬躍入想像,悠遊創造,享受自由,實踐藝術?!

至於「一」,一就是一,不會是0.5,也不會是1.5或者是其他的什麼。但這樣的純粹恐怕只存於先驗觀念裡,現象界裡有誰真正見過一個自始至終恆常不變的「一」?殊不見一個蘋果會爛,一個人會老,一隻狗終究會死,一個觀念被另一個觀念取代,一代偉人可能淪為一代罪人,一個國家就算幸運沒有淪為他國的殖民地總也會歷經不同政權統治.....!這是從歷時性角度來看「一」的可變性。至若從共時性來審視,「一」同樣也是充滿了變異性。比方說,狗是「一」種動物,但並非所有狗都長得一模一樣都屬同「一」,殊不見有貴賓,吉娃娃,藏獒,臘腸,約克夏....等等不同的狗。人也是,不說膚色不同,就算相同,住在不同國家就會產生不同文化行為舉止。甚至即使同屬一個國家的人民,住南住北臨海近山也有差異,不是有句話說「一方水土養一方人」嗎?!。如此推論,我們是否可以更進一步大膽假設「一即複數」呢?!

由這樣的觀點回頭來看行為藝術在台灣40年的發展,由垂直歷時的1980年代的街頭,1990年代的錄像與行動,到21世紀初延續到當代的現場,以及當代橫向共時的現場行為,聲音藝術,跨領域展演,以及舞蹈行為劇場,觀念劇場的百家爭鳴現象,不正也呼應了「一即複數」的理念嗎?!

基於這樣的認知,筆者對於國內近來各種以行為命名或沾上邊的展演遂有了不同以往的對應態度。此次策展或可顯現這樣的態度。今年我們持續邀請國內外優秀行為藝術家呈現單人行為展演,也將實驗沒有經過編排設計的集體行為, 而在此光譜兩端的中間,我們也首度邀請國內首見/少見的雙人行為與全包緊身衣步行藝術(Zentai Walk)。值得一提的是遠道而來的兩組雙人行為藝術家分別具伊拉克難民與女同身分。期盼帶給國內喜愛與關注行為藝術的人士更寬廣高韜的當代行為藝術視野。至於國內藝術家,則聚焦近年崛起,對現場行為有高度興趣並願持續耕耘的青年藝術家,其中幾位甚且已有國際參展經驗,顯見現場行為在國內少數先行者的播種耕耘多年後,已有生根發芽新象勃發的態勢!

於是,2017年阿川國際行為藝術節帶來的氛圍將是:我來,我多繽紛;我來,我多歧藝!深切期盼!                                                                                         
                                                                                               (葉 子 啟 寫於 2017 / 3 / 7)


   Plural of One                              



“Plural of One” came up to me when I was writing curatorial concept for this year’s festival.  It occurred to me several times for the following days.  Being an artist, I learn by experience that how inspiration can help.  So I keep it.  Thinking thoroughly, though, this phrase is full of paradoxes and contradictions.  What is “plural of one?”  Is it 111111? Three 1, eight 1?  Or 1s?  No answer!  But if we analyze thoroughly, we will also find this phrase full of imagination and divergence!

First, “one” is a number.  It’s math.  “Plural” comes from math, but it also exists in English, a language.  My educational background is English literature so naturally I tend to understand “plural” more by English.  Therefore, “plural of one,” for me, is like a concept that has math and English at the same time.  Accordingly, it can be seen as a concept of “interdisciplinary” if you like.

Second, in English, “one” refers to singular, whereas plural refers to the amount of more than one.  So we never say  “plural of one.”  Since “one” is singular, how can it be plural?  Consequently, “plural of one” is totally an illogical phrase which will be categorized as wrong on an examination sheet.  Why then I treat it as something so valuable that I’m willing to spend time and energy to speculate it?  Is my brain dead?  Am I crazy?  Or dare I not to be limited by logical rational reality and jump into the world of imagination, enjoying the freedom of creativity in the world of art?

As for “one,” one is one.  It’s not 0.5, or 1.5, or whatever.  But such purity perhaps exists only in a priori.   Does anyone ever see a permanent unchanging “one” in the phenomenology?  An apple gets rotten.  A man gets old.  A dog will die.  A concept tends to be replaced by another.  A great man could be degraded into a criminal.  Even a country is lucky enough not to be colonized by other countries, it will inevitably go through different regimes…!   These show the changeability of “one”   diachronically.  Likewise, “one” is also full of changes if we see it synchronically.  For example, dog is “one” of animals, but not all the dogs look alike.  There are  Poodle, Chihuahua, Tibetan Mastiff, Dachshund, Yorkshire Terrier, etc.  It’s the same for human beings.  People have different colors of skin.  Even if they have the same color, they might grow up in different culture/country and behave differently.   Even for people living in the same country, it’s very likely that there is difference for those living in the North from those in the South, and those living by the sea from those by the mountain.   So perhaps we can daringly conclude or propose that One is Plural!

It is no wonder that when we look back diachronically at the 40-years-development of performance art in Taiwan  from the street art in 1980s, the video performance and action art in 1990s to the contemporary live performance starting from the beginning of 21 century; and then synchronically from contemporary live performance, sound art, interdisciplinary performance, dancing performance theatre, to concept theatre, isn’t it fully echoing this absurd but realistic idea of “One is Plural?”

Based on such acknowledgement, I obtain a more friendly attitude toward the recent boosting  performing art/show that is entitled as or claimed to have a touch of performance art.  And I believe this attitude has more or less led to the choice of this year’s artists.  

This year we, again, invite local and overseas performance artists to show their solo performance and experiment together the group performance that has not been rehearsed or well planned in advance.  Between these two poles of the spectrum, we invite for the first time the domestically rare seen duo-performance and Zentai Walk, hoping to enlarge and elevate Taiwan’s vision of performance art.  For the local artists, we focus on emerging artists that are highly interested in performance art, some of whom have already joined international performance art event abroad.  

Eventually we hope the atmosphere of this year’s festival will be:  here I come, so colorful I am; here I come,  so multi-diversity I am!  

                                                                                      (  Yeh Tzu-Chi  2017/ 3 / 7 )





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