消逝與還原/匿名或現身—有關劉曉蕙藝術創作中的「公共性」| Diminishing and Representation / Being on the scene or not ? : The “Publicness” in Hsiao-hui’s Works
劉曉蕙 5/29 的《白晝之眠》開幕線上座談
Sleeping in Daytime: Hsiao-hui’s Opening Ceremony Talk on 29th May
《白晝之眠》（鹽寮漁港）截圖，2022
Sleeping in Daytime (Shot in Yanliao Fishing Port), screenshot, 2022
藝術評論/李志剛
曉蕙之前有留言給我想要我談藝術作品的「公共性」，我聽了前面主持人和其他評論者已經精準地把創作者和作品的表現意圖作了非常清楚的解析與詮釋，首先我認為大家今天能聚在這裡用論壇的形式作討論和分享就是一種公共性，特別是在這個在疫情期間，我們找到了與當前情勢重新和解共存的生活方式，人類文明正在探索和找尋新的「日常」和「公共性」對話的可能性……
我們都知道曉蕙的作品和關心的議題大部分集中在花東在地的環境地域，相對於如台北的主流藝術界所關心的那些中心場域，身處花東的創作者所關心處理的議題顯得是在核心圈邊緣且小眾，這是長期以來資源分配失衡的結構性問題，但是並不代表那就不能向大眾去發聲和分享，在今日網路世界的數位發展造就了這種機會，
今天的線上展覽和論壇就是作為一種公共性的平台，不斷集結小眾的力量去突顯那些被邊緣化或者被漠視的環境議題重新受到重視就是當代最重要的公民運動，今天參與的各位所貢獻的想法和力量，就是在創造和凝聚所謂「公共性」的影響力，有別於政治活動那些比較顯性的權力運作，藝術行為有著更悠遠、更深刻的長期隱性力量，雖然我們很難逆轉時尚潮流所創造出來的大眾流行文化的影響力和資源分配的權力結構，但是我看到花東近年來的這些群聚的藝術創作者仍然默默地憑藉一己之力在地耕耘想要去突破這些困境和限制，用一種緩慢安靜且堅忍持續的力量，固守並建立了後山的精神堡壘，形成了有別於西部主流藝術山頭的聚落文化，非主流的伏流已在慢慢彰顯。
曉蕙老師從自己生命體驗出發，帶出她對土地及創作上堅持的美學與理想性，她的創作彷佛把自己的面目和身體獻祭出來，非常小心翼翼地花心思用一種自然樸素且低限的手工編織了一張無形綿延的網纏繞自己來貢獻給藝術的神靈，這張網目前不緊也不鬆，目前看來還算舒適且帶有一點焦慮…….
『隱晦的抽離與強烈的對比性』
再來是有關創作者的角色和作品之間、以及創作者對自身內在認知與外部觀眾連結性的問題，就這個面向而言，曉蕙的作品具有非常高的現代性及當代性的行為/行動藝術表現的特質，但有別於當代比較激進的行動藝術工作者所使用的干涉與擾動現實環境的參與方式，曉蕙的創作採用的方式是介於劇場表演和電影拍攝之間互為辯證和延續的後設敍事作法，不斷用現實空間的消解去換取創作在環境議題和時間上的延續，當一個創作行為和作品在當下的時空被用最低限的方式去進行和完成而消逝的同時，影像的生命與意義也隨之誕生和延續，並企圖講述著一種永恆的真理去對抗在現實環境中那些難以抹除的荒謬與傷感、那些無法言說的真相與矛盾⋯⋯
創作者和一般人的二元對立性身分/角色 在我們的理解當中，藝術創作者應該是會和一般人非常不一樣的「異者」身份，創作者基於所要述說的議題或者想要表達的論述往往必須表現出強烈的作品風格，創作者的作品和創作者本身的個性往往互為投射，藝術家追求獨特性的創作本質，也和一般平凡人觀念、平凡角色性格的表現是不一樣的，但是曉蕙的作品中常常要把自己這個平凡人的角色投入到創作過程當中變成作品的一部分時，這種主客/內外對立的矛盾就很難消弭，追求創作美學獨特性的同時，創作者又偏偏要降低自己在其中的可辨識性與個性化，壓低個人的角色身分特殊性變成一個沒有面目或者類似帶著面具的隱藏者、無言的發言者、去個性化的沉默路人變成主角的影像風格，迫使觀影者必須能安靜沈思、噤聲去神入那個看起來通俗正常實則荒誕怪異的影像世界！
『塗臉與變裝』
有關將臉部著色的作法我個人的看法是：這是關涉創作者在創作中如何現身與作品呈現二次還原的問題？ 將臉塗色讓我聯想到了不合作運動的那個匿名者v怪客、藍人樂團的表演或者是阿凡達電影中納美人身處的那個異世界，不知道大家有沒有注意到，從這個視訊開始曉蕙老師的臉就一直在陰影當中，不知道是不是刻意的？我想不是，但從我視訊畫面裡面看到的景象便是如此，因為曉蕙老師的取景鏡頭刻意要面對著藍天大海，她的人百對鏡頭就背光身處在陰影當中，於是他的臉就一直若隱若現的在黑影當中沒有辦法看得很清楚，這或許是一種巧合和偶然，但也是為了創造某種情境下所做選擇的必然呈現了⋯⋯
簡單來說，把臉塗成淺藍色表示希望自己在劇情中被忽略而把自己進行虛擬化改造、或者是透過角色的「中性化」、「異者化」抽離創作者在場而產生的「匿名性」來控制情緒的表達，可以巧妙地化解了內/外、主/客的矛盾一不同角色必須在場卻又希望不在場的二元對立衝突困境，於是這個去個性化的「變裝」操作變成一種非常鮮明強烈的畫面儀式感，創作者的去本我面目塗妝、面具化、變裝等儀式感改變了創作者觀看自我與他者的角度與模式切換，可為其提供隱藏人格力量的來源。
就像漫威的角色當中所有有超能力的英雄角色都必須透過帶面具變裝等隱藏身分的方式重新現身而獲得力量，這種匿名性或以異於原來身分的轉換作為一種儀式而讓創作者能夠得到力量的靈感，我相信是原始藝術的源頭，這是源自於古老宗教中膜拜行為的潛意識所衍生的天啓，這是一種隱藏實體身分而進而激發出另外一種相對虛擬化、具有超越原本角色能力的身份切換，就像所有的漫威英雄角色在執行任務或變成英雄之前都必須要戴上面具或以一種變裝的姿態轉換身分方能展現其潛在個性角色的超能力，激發一個常人去整合其分裂人格中所隱藏的那些不同的潛在人格分身，並且神入那個具有超能力變身之後的英雄角色，
我猜想生性羞赧低調的本性讓曉蕙這個創作者必須用這種塗抹臉部去除個人特質或者類似戴上面具的隱身變裝方式現身於大眾面前重新展現，減少自己潛意識中的焦慮及恐懼並獲得抽離自身觀看自我於眾人眼光中的安全感，透過內在這樣隱身匿名的儀式性獲得面對外界的力量…… 這樣的做法其實並沒有完全失去創作者原來的面目，但主要重點是在透過身體上的妝點改造儀式來提供了一種心理上的安全感，克服面對外在世界與人群的焦慮感，這一層塗膜的面妝建立了一道防衛的屏蔽，為內在的心理層面提供了一層隔離防缐讓自己獲得隱藏原來面目而得以展現另一個層面的自我在創作行動上的勇氣與力量，創作者透過如虛擬化、抽離化、人格角色轉換的過程，在一次現場和二次影像還原的媒體後設情境當中，皆能獲得隱身匿名而能在創作和人群面前現身的力量，作為創作者投射自身向人群及公共領域發表時的一種進程手段，也是創作者必要在場現身的不在場低限手段，這種把自己化身為不在場的他者就好比在拍攝電影過程中原著或導演化身的路人甲路人乙的角色演出自己的作品…….
『演不演、行為不行為』
這些都是曉蕙作品中有趣的對比性，創作者或參與者在現場擔綱演出但又不是本我的那個角色，那麼非得創作者或參與者本身去當主角演出嗎？能不能請其他演員呢？或者應該這樣問，這些參與的人知不知道自己是在表演？知不知道他是在演自己或是在演某種「角色」？或者是創作者本身希望自己和參與者最終都不知道或是已經忘記自己是在表演並且能夠「神入」到角色當中？創作者本身在現場把自己化身為創作場域中彷彿不在場的「異者」，這種獨特的在場卻又彷彿抽離的現身方式，營造出作品中的一種靜謐的神秘感，強迫觀影者或觀看作品影像的人必須要靜默安靜地跟隨創作者鋪陳的情境體驗脈絡線而陷入沉思，慢慢思考作品想要表達的深層意涵，不管你對創作者的動機和背景了不了解，至少在影像表層的現象當中可以發掘很多視覺上和心靈上的對話，可以完整及純粹地表達媒體呈現的美學和藝術性，然後當暸解了創作者的背景、動機和她所關心的議題以及想表達的想法之後，又是另外一回事了⋯⋯曉蕙老師的創作和作品，對於當前對「公共性」這件事情的溝通上，沒有要談論什麼偉大道理的野心，但是意涵上卻是非常深刻，未來在個人美學和公共議題在兩個層面的著墨上仍然存在很高的對比性演出值得期待……. 時間篇幅關係我就先講到這裡，其他的部分有空再談了⋯⋯
Written by Chih-kang Lee
Hsiao-hui told me she wants to talk about the “publicness” in artwork. What the host and critics said earlier has already precisely interpreted and explained what the artist wants to convey to the public through her works. First of all, for us getting together here today to have a panel discussion and sharing is, to some extent, a form of publicness. Especially in the time of pandemic, we thrive on overcoming challenges and adapt to living alongside by making reconciliation about how to coexist. Human civilization is looking for a “new normal” and how it reflects on the “publicness.”
Most of Hsiang-hui’s works focus on environmental issues in the local area (East coast of Taiwan). Those topics of what creators in the local area have been doing are relatively marginalized when compared to the mainstream art in Taipei. This phenomenon stems from a structural inequality which leads to a long-term uneven distribution of resources; however, thanks to different digital dissemination methods, chances have been created for those creators to speak out on matters of their public concerns.
Today, the virtual exhibition and forum have become a public platform of gathering small voices—those environmental issues that have long been marginalized or neglected by the majority—and bringing them to light as a powerful contemporary civic movement. What you have contributed to today’s forum can create a strong impact of “publicness.” With its immersive and profound nature, art can stand the test of time better than political actions do. Though it’s hard to make a difference when one is submerged with the latest and popular trends and the uneven distribution under the current authority structure, I still can see a community of determined local artists who have engaged with a great zeal in creating artworks which question the existing problems and situation in the local area. The gradually emerging community carries on making a difference in a subtle but firm and persevere way, building their own spiritual kingdom to stand against the Western mainstream art located in the back of the mountain.
Hsiao-hui creates with her own life experience. Her works bring out her aesthetic and ideal devotion to representing lands in art. In her works, she offers herself—her face and body—as a sacrifice. She became a hand-weaver who weaves an invisible net, comfortable but with a little anxiety, to wrap herself up, sacrificing for the Divine of art.
Obscure Dissociation and Strong Contrast
What has to be explored next is the relationship between the role of the artist, her works, and how the artist’s self-awareness connects with the audience. Hsiao-hui’s artworks highly contain the characteristics of modernity and contemporary performance. However, unlike most provocative performance artists who involve the interference and meddling in the reality in their art, what sets Hsiao-hui’s art apart from them is her dialectical relationship between theater-based method and filming techniques that are interwoven with her metanarrtive elements. The way of diminishing time and space in reality by her original works is exchanged for extending the environmental issues sequentially she wants to approach in the subsequent representation of her works. The moment of burning actions and art being created in the most minimalized way is the same moment that the meaning and life in her video work come to rise from the ashes. An eternal truth creeps in, rendering the video works as traces of unremovable absurdity and sorrow and unspeakable facts and ambivalence when fighting against the real world.
The concepts artists and the mundane involve a binary opposition in our understanding. Artists are often seen as “Outliers”; their works often strongly reflect what they want to advocate and what issues they care about; and their works also often reflect their personalities. What an artist pursues is a uniqueness in the essence of works; that is, this pursuit of an artist and mundane matters diverge. However, as Hsiao-hui usually includes herself as a part of her works, it would be harder to reconcile the subject/object or internal/external paradox. In the pursuit of aesthetic uniqueness in works, she has to hide her identities and traits by depersonalizing herself in a way of wearing a mask, being speechless, and making the mundane the protagonist. The world in the video works seems normal and mundane; however, there’s a certain absurdity in it which is what the artist wants the viewers to put themselves into with undivided attention.
Face painting and cross-dressing
About my thoughts of face painting, this is about how the artist presents herself in her work as well as how the work itself is represented. It reminds me of the Guy Fawkes mask which represents the non-cooperation movement, the Blue Man Group, and where the Na’vi people dwell in the movie Avatar. If you pay close attention, you will notice that ever since the online meeting began, the face of Hsiao-hui has been in the shadows all the time. I don’t think she does it on purpose; however, that’s what I saw on my screen. Because all of Hsiao-hui’s shots are facing the blue sky and the broad ocean which put her subjects in the backlight, her face is therefore obscure and hiding away from the light. You can say it’s a coincidence as well as a definite result from a series of choices in order to create a certain ambience…
In short, painting her face light blue represents the artist’s desire for being neglected and control over her expression of emotions in a way of transforming, neutralizing, othering the creator role which generates “the anonymity.” This way, the artist subtly reconciles the paradox of the internal/external, subject/object paradox which is shown in the necessary character’s desire of not being on the scene. Therefore, the depersonalized “cross-dressing” becomes a strong contrasting picturesque ritual. The artist’s rituals such as makeup, masking, and cross-dressing change the artist’s perspective and way of viewing self and others, which can provide her with the powerful source of her hidden personality.
Like superheroes from Marvel depend on the change of their appearance or disguise in a mask or costume in order to gain a superpower, this kind of anonymity or change of identity resembles a ritual which allows the creators to gain the courage to find inspiration. I believe that this is where the art comes from. It originated from the Oracle which was heard as one was praying in ancient times. The disguise of true identity summons an alternative identity that has more power and confidence than the original one does. All the Marvel superheroes’ superpower are shown when they are to wear a mask or transform themselves before they fight the villains. It’s a mechanism of triggering another personality within one and then developing the empathy for the other identity—superhero—after transforming their appearance.
I guess the shy and low-key nature makes the artist have to use face painting to remove personal characteristics or wear a mask to re-show in front of the public. She reduces the anxiety and fear in his subconscious and gets rid of the sense of security in seeing herself in the eyes of others as well as the power to face the outside world through such an invisible and anonymous ritual inside. In fact, this approach does not completely lose the original face of the artist, the main focus is to provide a psychological sense of security through the cosmetic transformation ritual on the body, and overcome the anxiety of facing the external world and the public. A layer of painted face establishes a defensive shield, providing a layer of isolation and defense for the inner psychological level, allowing one to obtain the courage and strength to hide the original face and reveal another level of self in creative actions. The artist can obtain the power of invisibility and anonymity to appear in front of the public in the process of virtualization, detachment, and personality role transformation, on location and in a metacognitive situation of recreating images. She projects herself as a creator to the public and it is also a minimalized absence of her being presence. This kind of incarnation of oneself as an absent other is like a director playing a passerby in during the filming of their own work.
To act or not to act, to do or not to do
These are all interesting contrasts in Hsiao-hui’s works. The artist or participants are performing on location, but it is not the role of themselves. So do the artist or participants themselves have to be the protagonist? Can you hire other actors? Or do the people involved know that they are performing? Do you know if they are playing themselves or playing some kind of "role"? Or does the artist herself hope that she and the participants don't know or have forgotten that they are performing and can "empathize" with the characters they are playing? The artist incarnates herself as a "the Other" who does not seem to be present on location. This unique way of being present but seeming to be detached creates a quiet mystery in the work, forcing the viewers to see. Viewers of the works must quietly follow the context of the situational experience laid out by the artist and fall into contemplation, slowly thinking about the profound meaning that the work wants to express, regardless of whether you understand the artist’s motives and background. At least the images have a lot of visual and spiritual dialogues that can be discovered. After the aesthetics and artistry of the work can be fully and purely expressed, the deeper thinking and reflection have to be developed by the viewers themselves. Hsiao-hui’s works have no ambition to talk about great truths in the current communication on the matter of “publicness.” But the meaning in her works is very profound. In the future, the highly contrasting relationship between personal aesthetics and public issues is worth looking forward to. Because I'm running out of time, I will talk about other parts some other time.
李志剛簡介 |
身世／1969年出生於屏東市
角色／長男、某位人妻之夫、兩個小孩的爸爸、大學建築系老師出版／《FACE TALK 過去是一面鏡子》2012年6月
專業／環境空間規劃、建築設計、「物」制作
業餘／文字工作及藝術創作者、生活冒險及心靈拓境者
Introduction of Chih-kang Lee |
Birth/ Pingtong, 1969Roles/ the eldest son, a husband of someone, a father of two children, a lecturer in the department of architecturePublication/ FACE TALK: The Past is a Mirror, June, 2012Profession/ the spatial planning, architecture design, 「object」 design
Other/ a writer and an artistic creator, life adventurer and mind explorer
譯者 |
林弱水
Translator |
Lin, Rou-shui