Last stop: High UnderTai

The final station after almost 2 months of work on the installation project 'High UnderTai', during our artist-in-residency at the Howl Space in Tainan.

February 22, 2014, Tang De-chang Memorial Park, Tainan: The materials of this installation includes a pieces of Sun Yat-sen’s statue (after destroyed) from memorial park, and an abundant portrait of Sun Yat-sen from Taitung.

Slideshow-box showing photography made in Taiwan and the different stages of the installation during the past weeks

Found shapes of Taiwan

ERASE! Interactiv possibility for the audience to erase Taiwan

The Calligraphic Machine / 書法機器

Inspired by the possibility that the temples in Tainan offer to ask direct questions or wishes to god, as well as with the tradition of Planchette-writing or spirit-writing, in which automatic writings serve to bridge communication between men and spirits, we created our calligraphic machine. 

The Machine uses a “Made in Taiwan” special device normally used in market places, hanging above sweets or fresh food products to get rid of the flies. 

How to use the Calligraphic Machine:

1- Prepare a white blank sheet of calligraphic paper

2- Suck the brush in black ink

3- The visitor asks for a wish or a question

4- The visitor presses the button to activate the calligraphic machine while being concentrate in the question

5- The answer will be created in the form of an abstract drawing

6- The visitor can take the drawing home and interpret it in calm

源自於台南寺廟中，求神問卜，以及傳統的扶乩書寫或精神書寫，其中，這樣的自動書寫，提供了人與神明之間的溝通橋樑，而我們則創造了我們自己的書法機器。

這個機器使用的是，在傳統市場等地方被普遍使用的，由「台灣製造」的特殊機器，它通常被用來驅趕蒼蠅，懸掛在甜食或新鮮食品上方。 

如何使用書法機器：

1 – 準備一張空白的書法紙。
2 – 讓筆刷吸滿墨水。
3 – 觀眾必須對著機器提出一個願望或問題。
4 – 請觀眾按下開關以啟動書法機器，同時專注於你所提出的問題。
5 – 答案將會出現在抽象的圖畫之中。
6 – 觀者可以將這張畫帶回家，並且沉靜地解讀畫中的意思。

Public Presentation

Finally we stopped working on the installation in progress and celebrated the end with a public presentation and a rice house with car, kitchen, AC and other luxuories. Of course the car was parked inside the house, Taiwanese style . To show our support for the current developement in Taiwan, we created small actions together with the audience.

Thank you Taiwan- you will always have a place in our hearts!

The dessert for the public presentation is a “little house” made by “pop-rice (Puffed rice)” and biscuits. In Taiwanese funeral, family member will burn a kind of paper-made house for the death. It’s for sending the physical material into supernatural layer. Rather than this traditional practice, In this public presentation, audiences ate this “little house”.

反黑箱服貿

In the meantime students stormed into their parlament in Taipei and occupying it since then (link). It is against a commercial agreement with China which allows chinese citizens to have more influence through business in Taiwan. Today we joined with some taiwanese friends the protest in Tainan.

Meeting the king

An afternoon painting session of Irene and Tainan king and great artist Lin, Shu-Kai/ 林書楷, on one of the outsiders walls of Howl Space.

Garbage Car vs Gas Car

Almost a flashback to hear the garbage cars in Tainan. It reminded me strongly of my experience in Amman: the Gas Car Project!

Participate in progress

Since two days people are welcome to visit us in our installation in progress.

Bunun

Collage inspired by the Bunun tribe.

Processing painting

The still unfinished painting by Irene Pascual, inspired by classic Chinese landscape painting.

Readymade flyer

Improvisation

Leftovers after an improvisation exercise

Discovering □□ by Xiang Yang

Discovering □□

□□ was discovered
In several newspapers from 1920
Yellowed and disintegrating

On the mocking lips of history
□□ has already been destroyed
A woodpecker cannot peck anything
Out of □□
Empty void

On the fluttering hem of her skirt
□□ waits quielty to be filled in
Fearful billows and currents wait and watch left and right
□□ □□
Muddled ignorant

In a confining frame
Empty void □□
□□ The Portugues sailors called her Formosa
□□ The Dutch bestowed the name Zeelandia on her
□□ Zheng Chenggong filled in "Peace, the capital of Ming"
□□ The Qing established a prefecture subordinate to Fujian Province
□□ A people abandoned established a republic
□□ Japan transplanyed "Great Japan" here
□□ Now she is said to be an inseparable part of China
Among so many signifiers
Muddled ignorant □□

□□ is everything
□□  is nothing
Like Formosa Cypress in thick fog
Unable to find the ground on which to stand
All the birds vie to nest thier feathery wings
ALL the beasts contend to leave their tracks
Discovering □□ has become a form of fun
Searching for □□ has become an idle pastime

□□ was duplicated
In an election bulletin
Published in the winter of 1991
Part of which was consigned to flames
□□was discovered
In the□□ surrounded by □□
In the empty □□
□□was called by the name of □□
Until finally even □□ could no longer be found

Trns. by John Balcom

發現□□

□□被發現
在一九二○年出版的
多份發黃而枯裂的新聞紙上
在歷史嘲弄的唇邊
□□業已湮滅
啄木鳥也啄不出什麼
□□之中
空空 洞洞

在她飄移的裙緣
□□靜候填充
駭浪怒潮左右窺伺
□□ □□
懵懵 懂懂
　
在有限的四方框內
空空洞洞的 □□
□□  葡萄牙水手叫她Formosa
□□ 荷蘭賜她Zeelandia 之名
□□  鄭成功填入明都平安
□□ 大清在其上設府而隸福建
□□ 棄民在此成立民主國
□□ 日本種入大和魂
□□ 現在據說是中國不可分割的肉

在無數的符號之中
懵懵 懂懂的 □□
什麼都是的□□
什麼都不是的□□

猶似紅檜，在濃濃霧中
找不到踏腳的土地
所有的鳥競相插上羽翅
所有的獸爭逐彼此足跡
發現□□成為一種趣味
尋找□□變做閒來無事的遊戲

□□被複製
在一九九一年冬付梓的
以及部份被付之一炬的
選舉公報中
□□被發現
在□□圍起來的□□中
在空洞的□□裡

□□以□□為名
終至於連□□也找不到了

The poem Discovering □□, written by Xiang Yang is taken from the book Sailing to Formosa / A Poetic Companion to Taiwan, edited by Michelle Yeh, N. G. D. Malmqvist and Xu Huizhi. Published by the University of Washington Press (2006).

Sailing to Formosa is a bilingual anthology of modern Chinese poetry from and about Taiwan arranged in thematic sections that present contrasting views of life in Taiwan.

One week after our arrival we visited the Library of Literature Museum in Tainan, as one of our research visits. We like to think that the poem found us, as after a short search we came through with what we considered the perfect description of the country.

At that point it was not so easy for us to understand the controversial political situation and the policy of deliberate ambiguity that define Taiwan status. This poem gave us a clear key and a confirmation of what, in that moment, was our perception. We decided the poem should be included in the exhibition.

這首詩〈發現□□〉，由詩人向陽書寫，取自由馬悅然（N.G.D. Malmqvist）、奚密（Michelle Yeh）與許悔之（Xu Huizhi）合編的詩集《航向福爾摩沙─詩想台灣》（Sailing to Formosa: A Poetic Companion to Taiwan），2006年由美國華盛頓大學出版社出版。

《航向福爾摩沙》是一本雙語翻譯的現代中文詩選集，其主軸呈現著台灣當前現狀的衝突觀點。

在我們抵達台南的一週之後，我們參觀了台灣文學館的圖書館，它也是我們研究考察的地點之一，而在經過一段短暫的搜尋之後，彷彿這一首詩自己找到了我們，它將我們對於這個國家的想法完美的表述出來。

基於上述觀點，對我們來說，要理解這個國家具爭議的政治局勢，以及被刻意模糊定義台灣現狀的政策，並不容易。而這首詩卻帶給了我們某種清晰明確的重點，在那一刻，那就是我們的觀點。因此，我們決定這首詩應該被納入到這個展覽中。

Aura and measurements

Ready to fly

News from Gilkistan, the other side of the world: Master Gilke designed again a great postcard, now flying into the printing machine.

Collages & Drawings

First outcomes of the table sessions: drawings (with collages) by Irene Pascual, stamp collages by me.