回莫村－壁毯 Huai Mo Village - Tapestry

回莫村－壁毯 Huai Mo Village - Tapestry

壁毯 Tapestry，268 × 186 cm，2013

While Hsu visited Huai Mo Tzu Chiang House, he found more than ten sewing machines donated by a British ten more years ago. In his original intention, the British hoped, with these machines, local orphans could make a living from producing and selling purses and clothes on their own. However, these machines were only partially utilised. Therefore, Hsu invited a teacher to teach orphans how to use it and then completed this tapestry work together. The image of the tapestry is from a picture taken in 1973, in which two senior officers are standing in front of the newly-established CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). These fabrics are usually used to make clothes for local children. The fabric in dark blue is used for making girl's skirts, the khaki is used for boy's pants, and the white is used for their shirts.

藝術家許家維探訪回莫自強之家期間，發現了十多台縫紉機，是十多年前一位英國人所捐贈。這位英國人當初的用意是希望當地的孤兒能夠利用縫紉機製作一些包包或衣服，用以販售並換取生活的費用。但最後這些縫紉機並未充分利用。於是藝術家邀請了一位老師來教導這些小朋友使用縫紉機，並共同完成了這幅壁毯。壁毯上的圖像來自於1973年間，情報局的長官在剛成立沒多久的情報局前所拍攝的照片。而這些布料通常用於製作當地小朋友的衣服，深藍色的布料是用於製作女孩子的裙子，卡其色的布料用於男孩子的褲子，白色則是襯衫。

SH-SY5Y

SH-SY5Y

單頻道錄像裝置 single-channel ultra HD video，10'，2013

This artwork began in early 2012 and is a collaboration with Academia Sinica Applied Sciences Laboratories and Chang Bing Show Chwan Memorial Hospital Remote Minimally Invasive Surgery Laboratory. SH-SY5Y is a human neuroblastoma cell line, and this artwork is based on this particular subject matter. This type of neuroblastoma cell is one of the most dangerous malignancies. The person suffering from it may experience abnormal brain activities, making the patient delirious and unable to decipher reality from illusion. SH-SY5Y cells can form mounds and can spread to other body parts at a rather fast pace.

This artwork is titled "SH-SY5Y", and the SH-SY5Y cells contained in the artwork were derived from a four years old girl's cancer cells forty years ago; including the shipping fee, the cost of the cells totalled 560 US dollars. Conventionally, cancer cells are regarded as "diseases"; however, these petri dishes cultivated cells are also "biological organisms", and at the cell production and marketing centre, they are considered as "products". The video was shot at a remote minimally invasive surgery laboratory. With this type of surgery, usually two holes the size of a mosquito bite are required; one hole is to allow the endoscope to enter, and the other is for the surgical scalpel to conduct the operation. The doctor only needs to look at the monitor to carry out the surgical procedure, and this laboratory is dedicated to the research of remote minimally invasive surgeries, which may include such surgeries with doctors operating from the city on soldiers out in the battleground in the Middle East, or perhaps even operating on astronauts in space.

The narration is recorded by the head of Academia Sinica's Bio Microfluidic Applications Laboratory, who is also made into an animated character. The images of the cancer cells were captured by the laboratory's confocal microscopy and are from an actual SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell line. This portion involves the recording of actual cancer cells with a microscopic camera. These are cancer cells cultivated by the Academia Sinica Applied Sciences Laboratories, which live in a petri dish and are used for research. Viewing from a different perspective, these cancer cells can live outside the human body. Conventionally, cancer cells are regarded as "diseases", but these cells in the petri dish are considered "biological organisms". This video is ten minutes in length and is projected on a large 14 meters wide and 5 meters high projection wall. Additionally, three projectors are used to constitute a large image through conflation techniques.

The on-site lightbox installation includes a petri dish containing the SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cell line, which is genetically modified in vitro cells. The liquid the petri dish holds contains actual SH-SY5Y cancer cells provided by Academia Sinica's Applied Sciences Laboratories. Each gram contains more than one billion living cancer cells, with the SH-SY5Y cancer cells making a real appearance in the exhibition venue.


此作品為2012年初開始與中研院的應用科學實驗室以及彰濱秀傳醫院的遠距微創手術實驗室的合作。SH-SY5Y是腦神經瘤癌細胞株的名稱，展出的作品環繞著這個對象發展。這種癌細胞是目前最為危險的一種癌細胞之一，尤其當患者受到此種癌細胞的入侵，會開始影響腦部的正常活動，許多病患逐漸分不清真實與虛幻。也由於此種細胞株有許多突出物，非常易於轉移至身體其它部位，擴散的速度也非常快。

作品名為「SH-SY5Y」，作品中的SH-SY5Y細胞來自於四十年前一位四歲小女孩的癌細胞，包含運費定價是560美元。癌細胞在一般認知中是關於「疾病」，但這些生長於培養皿的細胞也是一種「生物」，在細胞產銷中心中，它則是「產品」。影片場景拍攝於遠距微創手術實驗室，遠距微創手術往往只需要開兩個如同蚊子叮的洞，一個讓內試鏡攝影機進入拍攝，另一個洞則是讓手術刀進入工作。而醫生只需要看著螢幕即可進行手術，因此該實驗室致力於遠距的微創手術研究，例如醫生可以在都市為遠在中東戰區的士兵開刀，甚至是位太空人進行手術。

旁白是由中研院Bio Microfluidic Applications Laboratory負責人所錄製，並繪製成動畫角色，癌細胞畫面則是透過該實驗室的共鄂焦顯微鏡所拍攝而成，這是真實的SH-SY5Y腦神經瘤癌細胞株，這個部分是透過顯微攝影機拍攝真實癌細胞。是中研院的應用科學實驗室內所培養的癌細胞，這種癌細胞生長於培養皿中，用於研究用途。另一個面向而言，這些癌細胞是可以外於人體而存活的，癌細胞在一般人既定映像中關於的是「疾病」，但這些生長於培養皿的細胞本身其實是一種「生物」。這部影片片長共10分鐘。這件作品投影在14公尺寬5公尺高的巨型投影牆，並以三台投影機透過融接技術構成巨幅影像。

現場燈箱裝置內的培養皿放置了神經纖維母細胞瘤SH-SY5Y，這是經過基因改造的體外培養細胞。培養皿內部裝的液體則是來自中研院應用科學研究室所提供的真實SH-SY5Y癌細胞，每一公克包含10億以上的癌細胞活體，也是SH-SY5Y癌細胞在展場中的真實現身。

白色四方桌 Marshal Tie Jia - White Square Table

白色四方桌 Marshal Tie Jia - White Square Table

裝置 Installation，2013

The mythical realm that Marshal Tie Jia has guided me into has allowed me to experience a journey of legends and politics, as these stories slowly take shape between the island and the pond. At last, as I returned once again to the temple in Chinbe Village, I brought with me a white square table, where I recounted my entire journey to the Marshal. The Marshal wrote a poem for me on the altar table, and it reads, “Guest(s) from afar do have feet; root searching from the mountain to the village. The character for sentiment is comprised of a heart, harmoniously dwelling in Chinbe, from generation to generation, with the good name of Chinbe pass down for years to come.” Honestly speaking, although I have met the Marshal several times and have researched quite a bit about him; still, his world remains mysterious and foreign to me. I am unsure if this poem was written specifically for me by the Marshal or is it dedicated to the increasing flow of tourists in town. To me, the poem is quite elusive; perhaps it comes from the Marshal’s own inner sentiments. I think the only way for me to imagine or decipher it is from the stories and fuzzy inconclusive memories I’ve collected along my journey.

隨著鐵甲元帥引領我進入神話世界，我經歷了一段神話與政治的旅程，在島與池塘之間慢慢形塑成了這些故事。最後，我再次回到芹壁村的廟宇，帶了一張白色四方桌，重頭向元帥敘述了這整個旅程，這一次元帥在桌面上寫下了一首詩：「遠來貴客真有腳，武山尋根到溪村。情字半點心，同住石芹邊，祖孫代代傳，萬古芹流芳。」老實說，雖然我與元帥見了很多次面，也打探到了不少祂的事跡，但對於祂的世界我還是感到像團謎般非常陌生。我並不能確定元帥題的這首詩是寫給我，還是寫給逐年增加的觀光客，詩句讀來總覺得離我忽遠忽近，難不成是元帥在抒發自己的心情？我想，唯一能讓我想像的大概只有這趟旅程中，所收集到來自這些相遇者的故事與模糊不確鑿的記憶。

鐵甲元帥－小廟 Marshal Tie Jia - Temple

鐵甲元帥－小廟 Marshal Tie Jia - Temple

裝置 Installation，280 (H) × 240 (W) × 240 (L) cm，2012

At first, I had hoped to rebuild this disappeared temple directly on the island, but during the ritual of inquiry in your temple, you did not permit me to construct anything on the island. Acting in accordance with your direction, I chose to construct this temple in the studio. In order to do so, I asked an elderly man in the temple what the original temple on the island might have looked like. Still, he could no longer remember, so I could only imagine its scale based on the remains of its site on the island and its architectural style in consideration of the Chin-be Village where you reside. In the 1970s, the decline of the fisheries here caused a resident to migrate away, allowing the village to hide away from the ravages of modernism by preserving a series of traditional Eastern Min architectural structures. I carved the texture of the interior temple walls out of the marble and granite often found in this architecture, then painted it in greenish white and dark yellow among other colours. This is not only a fabricated set for filming but is also, at the same time, a real space, a materialisation of things imagined and remembered.

起初我希望能直接在島上重建這座已經消失的廟宇，但在那次廟裡的詢問儀式中，您不允許我在島上搭建任何東西，遵照您的指示，我選擇把這座廟宇搭建在工作室裡。為此我詢問了廟裡長者這座廟宇過去在島上可能的樣貌，他已回想不起，於是我便依據島上殘留的廟宇地基來想像它的大小，而廟裡的建築樣式則是參考您所居住的芹壁村。1970年後這裡的漁業蕭條使居民外移，村莊因此躲過現代化的破壞，保留了許多傳統的閩東建築，我依照這些建築裡常見的花崗岩與大理石來刻畫廟裡牆面的質感，並用青白、黃褐與磚紅等不同的顏色來繪製，這不僅是個拍攝用的虛構場景，同時也是個現實空間，是對於曾發生事物的想像與記憶的物質化。

回莫村 Huai Mo Village

回莫村 Huai Mo Village

單頻道錄像裝置 single-channel video installation, 8'20", 2012

Huai Mo Village focuses on the Huai Mo Tzu Chiang House in Chiang Rai, Thailand. The founder of this house is a priest who served as a secret informer for the CIA during the Cold War period for thirty-nine years. His identity indicates the sources of this period of history and the change process. Starting from the 1980s, this region has turned into a world drug centre facing severe issues of smuggling and trafficking. Currently, there are around 70 children, most of whose parents have been killed or jailed due to drug trafficking or smuggling. Owing to the local drug problems, these kids have become orphans.

In this video work, the artist invited these children to form a filming team and jointly used the camera, sound recording equipment, lights, and other filming facilities. Children could visit the priest in person and listen to him tirelessly talk about the past of the Intelligence Bureau. The artist's customary style is extended in this work – the people telling the stories, the people listening to the stories, the filming crew made up of orphans, with the artist standing furthest back, observing it all and exploring a complex history of this region.

作品《回莫村》關注於泰國清邁回莫村的自強之家，創辦人是一位牧師，但同時在冷戰時期，他也秘密地擔任CIA情報員，持續了有39年的時間，他的身份也點出了這段歷史的源頭及變化的過程。此地從80年代開始成為世界的毒品中心，走私與販賣問題極為嚴重，目前有大約70位左右的院童，這些孩童的父母親大多是因為販毒或走私毒品而遇害或入獄，因為當地的毒品問題而成為孤兒。

在這件錄像作品中，藝術家邀請這些孩童成為拍攝團隊，與他們共同使用攝影機、錄音設備與燈光等等的拍片器材，並且由孩童們親自訪問這位牧師，牧師在影片中娓娓道出作為情報員的過往。藝術家慣有的拍攝手法在本作品中仍在延續：從講故事的人、聽故事的人、到由孩童們組成的拍攝團隊，藝術家站在更為後方的位置，觀察著這一切、探討這個地區複雜的歷史。