鑽石島－李奎壁個展 Li Kuei-Pi：Diamond Island

主辦人/單位: 瞧夫觀光計劃
活動類別: 展覽

首次展演日期: 2020-08-01    結束展演日期: 2020-08-23
詳細時間說明:
8/1 (六) ~ 8/23 (日)，每週二至日上午 11 點至下午 7 點

活動地點:瞧夫龍山

地址:台北市萬華區西園路一段145號地下2樓

鑽石島－李奎壁個展  Li Kuei-Pi：Diamond Island

(See below for the English version)

若檔案是種遺跡，它也是那種會時時對我耳語的，在我每日的生活中堅守它的崗位。
— 茱立葉塔．幸

現代城市發展，需要時時兼顧實用性與美觀，使各式各樣的人都能舒適地活動：發夢、創造，留下的美好記憶，將堆疊成歸屬感。但是今天，當代資本在全球化潮流下流通，則以另一種力量形塑著後進國家城市，使其必須服務於強者的利益著想，而往往與增進本地公眾生活品質無關。

在柬普寨首都金邊的新興計畫區—鑽石島，便是這樣的地方。它過去人煙罕至，再之前這個沙洲還尚未成形。近十數年來，各地熱錢湧入，充滿歐洲建築語彙的住房、大廈、建築奇觀接連拔地而起，吸引眾多經濟移民，四處中文路標招牌林立，務求給華人們賓至如歸的感覺。

如此急速發展的面貌下，誰能在此安身立命？誰又在這來來去去？本次藝術家李奎壁個展提出了初步問題，作品作為自問自答的過程，為觀眾留下了通往各個議題的索引。正誠如西元前的柏拉圖所寫到：「一座城市，無論多小，都可以分作兩邊：屬於窮人的城市，以及屬於富人的。」 你會聽到的故事不只一個，而它們又都是從不同角度被述說，內容則並不總是美麗動人。李奎壁「鑽石夢」系列創作，透過了許多路徑，像政經史地變遷研究、訪談、委託創作等，探索關於此處的集體、多元的記憶；藝術媒材則橫跨靜動態影像、複合裝置、報導文學與田調紀錄，從本展覽中，為我們鋪開新殖民主義在柬普寨鑽石島打造「居所」的風貌。

展間是個檔案室，開放給所有人，你可以在此處遊覽、檢索、查閱、拼湊、沉思。這些檔案沒有傳統科層化分類編輯，而著重在使多元的記憶彼此平等，相互共存生化。不甘於被當作被動等待閱讀的文獻，它們承載著藝術家和她幫助說話的那些人、那些事、那些地方的聲音。它們是與當下生息的史料，不只引領你回顧這個地方的過去，它們也積極地映照當下，而且正在跟著金邊的發展前行，或許，再成為別的樣子。

過去藝術主要功能是跟神靈溝通，因此高棉語中的「藝術」 សិល្បៈ (音silapak) 本意為魔法。李奎壁擅長使用「魔法」從文字和非文字的創作，為複雜的知性及感性運作鋪墊出脈絡，對象往往是一地區的經濟生活。「鑽石島」展覽希冀讓原先無可彼此對話的人事物，搭建起了各種發聲的渠道。


關於鑽石島 │

如果你是柬普寨當地人，每個月付出5倍薪水，將是你能心安理得買一間房子的代價。

柬普寨是所有東協會員中，對海外投資最為開放自由的國家。(新)南向政策以來，台灣資本亦加入新殖民主義的力量陸續注入，在這各項成長指標都看好的國度，土地房產開發便是主要投資標的之一。許多台灣的商界能人和投資客們，正和世界其他地方型塑著柬普寨的天際線：實現一群人的夢想同時，也製造另一群人的夢。

「鑽石島」位於柬埔寨首都金邊近郊，半世紀以前它甚至不存在，直至河流經年堆積泥沙而成。遠離喧囂的特性，甚至曾被規劃成痲瘋病患隔離區。2006年投資公司從政府手中買下鑽石島後，轉售與華人為主的的地產開發商，自此碧瓦起朱樓，定為柬普寨的「精英之城」。各方勢力大興土木，而目前多數建案在炒作之下，已是當地企圖買房成家的普羅大眾所無法負擔。


個展藝術家 │ 李奎壁

1991年生於台南，2017年畢業於台北藝術大學美術學系碩士班，現生活在台北。她的作品關注於跨國移動與勞動經驗，透過改造勞動過程中所產生的物件與介入勞動的過程，轉變商品原所屬的內涵，提出她對於今日物質世界的批判觀點。

她善於運用來自於勞動現場的物件，透過仿造、再製與重新編撰，讓觀眾在作品展示現場落入精心策畫的陷阱當中，成為一名演員，與被展示的對象。同時，透過隱藏在物件中的歷史線索，她試圖將對於生產系統的關心擴延到族群的身分認同上。對她而言，歷史不只是線性串聯的事件，而是生產系統在緩慢的改變過程中所形成的結果，而生產系統的改變也意味著技術與工具的變化，如何將變化納入作品之中，成為作品的一部分，同時讓觀眾的進入完成作品，是她經常思考的。


策展人 │ 邱柏廷

邱柏廷是一個工作及生活在臺北的當代藝術策展人，現任職瞧夫觀光計劃。他擅長整合各領域學科知識，配合藝術家的感性語彙，一起為觀者打造深入淺出的展覽體驗。邱柏廷長期關心藝術語言的可驗證性，並使用拉岡派精神分析臨床系統，探索藝術作為精神治療的有效性。他於2017年在國立台北藝術大學藝術跨域研究所策展組畢業，取得藝術創作碩士。策劃展覽內容多元，包含各海內外藝術家之個展或聯展。曾在臺南和當時夥伴創建能盛興國際藝術村，發表系列展覽，產出多項國際交流合作計畫。


主辦單位簡介 │

瞧夫觀光計劃，是為了推動當代藝文相關理念所成立之團隊。「瞧」，意味著團隊以更精準的時局洞察力自勉；「夫」，則採務實之勞動者為意象；「觀光計劃」代表團隊打造給參與者每個別開生面的體驗。我們企圖在台灣當代藝文領域，跟社會共同發現更多藝術交流可能性：一方面使藝術持續保有前衛性格，開疆拓土；一方面讓藝術更加和藹可親，沒有距離。

瞧夫促成「空間媒合」。瞧夫視藝術家和需要藝術家的單位需要，將原本「靜止」的空間注入新活力，將其變身為展場、工作室、研究中心、或聚會場所，促成更活潑友善的空間運用。

瞧夫進行「美學推廣」。美的教育應適用任何人，無論年齡大小、性別認同、政治偏好等差異。為了彌補基礎美學教育，甚及高等美學教育的不足之處。瞧夫以講座、課程、聚會、工作坊、策展等形式，連接起參與者和當代藝術脈動，讓藝術遍開大街小巷。

瞧夫也有「策展實驗」。瞧夫龍山位於萬華，舉辦性質具前瞻性，且內容包含國際和在地特色之各項計畫。團隊亦在此採多元包容的態度持續鼓勵著青年創作者，其中亦包括沒有受過學院訓練的素人藝術家。我們也將創作的力量結合多元文化可能性，包含結合社區營造的區域主題式展演等等。

💎
Li Kuei-Pi:：𝕯𝖎𝖆𝖒𝖔𝖓𝖉 𝕴𝖘𝖑𝖆𝖓𝖉

If the archive is a remnant, it is one that keeps whispering to me, insisting on its place in my everyday life. —Julietta Singh

The development of modern cities needs to always balance practicality and aesthetic to allow the interaction and growth of people from all walks of life to proceed freely within the confines of the city: to dream, to create, and thus forming beautiful memories, which are translated into a sense of belonging. However, in the current times, contemporary capital circulating under the trend of globalization is in fact manipulating the cities of latecomer nations through another force, making it bowing to the interests of the ones with power. Unfortunately, such circulation of capital is often unrelated to improving the quality of local life.

Diamond Island, an emerging district plan in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, is one such place. In the past, it used to be unpopulated. Further before, it was a sandbar yet to take shape. In the past decade or so, money was poured in from various areas, housing, buildings, and architectural wonders full of European architectural vocabulary have emerged one after another, attracting many economic immigrants. Many road and shop signs with Chinese text were erected to give the Chinese people a home-coming feeling.

Under such rapid development, who would be able to settle down here? Who would be able to thrive with ease under such conditions? Who would come and go in this place? Artist Li Kuei-Pi's solo exhibition raised such preliminary questions, with each of his work presented as a process of self-inquiry, guiding the audience to various topics. Just as Plato had wrote: “For indeed any city, however small, is in fact divided into two, one the city of the poor, the other of the rich.” you will hear more than one story, and they are all told from different angles, of which the content is not always beautiful and touching. Through many routes, such as the study of political and economic history, interviews, commissioned creation, and others, Li Kuei-Pi explores the collective and diverse memories of this land with the "Diamond Dream" series of creations. Utilization of art media ranges from static to dynamic images, composite installations, and reporting of literature and field records, paving the way for us to create a home appearance for neo-colonialism in Diamond Island, Cambodia.

Serving as the display area, the archive room is open to the public, where you can visit, search, check, piece something together, and contemplate. Instead of traditional hierarchical classification and editing, the display area focuses on making multiple memories equal to each other, thereby achieving coexistence. Not willing to be regarded as passive reading documents, they carry the voice of the artist as well as the voices of the people, the things, and places that she helps to put forth. They are historical materials related to the current life. They not only lead you to inspect the past of this place, but also actively reflect the present, and are following the development of Phnom Penh. Perhaps, through this process, they might become something else.

In the past, the main function of art was to communicate with the spirits. Therefore, "art" (សិល្បៈ, pronounced silapak) in Khmer was originally meant to be magic. Li Kui-Pi, who is recognized as a "magician" in both text and non-text creations, enables the pavement of context for complex intellectual and affectional operations, where the subject is often times the economic living of a region. In essence, through the Diamond Island exhibition, it is hoped that various channels to speak out is created for people and things that were previously incapable of establishing any meaningful exchanges.


▎About Diamond Island
If you are a local Cambodian, 5 times the monthly wage will be your budget for household debt and a peace of mind.

Among all of the members of ASEAN, Cambodia is the most open and free country for overseas investment. Since the initiation of the (New) Southbound Policy, capitals from Taiwan are continuously injected into Cambodia in the form of neo-colonialism. In the country where all growth indicators appear promising, land and real estate development is one of the main investment targets. Many Taiwanese businessmen and investors are shaping the Cambodian skyline with the rest of the world: while realizing the dream of one group of people, they are also creating dreams of another at the same time.

Located in the suburbs of Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, Diamond Island did not even exist half a century ago, having only formulated after the accumulation of river sand and sediment. Characterized its secluded locale, at one point it was even planned to be an isolation area for leprosy patients because it was so far away from the hustle and bustle of major cities. In 2006, after an investment company purchased Diamond Island from the government and later resold it to real estate developers composed mostly of Chinese people, it was designated as the "elite city" of Cambodia. Nowadays, flipped by many construction companies, it has become an object beyond the affordability of the local public.


▎Featured Artist: Li Kuei-Pi
Li Kuei-Pi was born in Tainan in 1991. She received her MFA from Taipei National University of the Arts in 2017, and currently lives in Taipei. Her work engages in transnational mobility and labor experience, in which she converts objects created from labor and intervenes in the labor process, transforming the meaning of the products to convey her critical viewpoints about the modern material world.
Li specializes in utilizing objects from the site of labor work before employing means of imitation, reproduction and remaking to entrap the audience in her elaborately conceived works, in which the audience become performers as well as part of the exhibited works. Meanwhile, she makes use of historical clues embedded in the objects to include issues related to the identity of different communities in her discussion about production systems. For the artist, history is not simply a string of linearly associated events but the result formed through a gradually changing process of production systems. The changes in the latter also indicate changes in techniques and instruments. Therefore, one of her constant focus is how to incorporate these changes into her creations while involving the audience in the completion of these works.


▎Curator: Marcus Chiu
Marcus Chiu is a curator of contemporary art working and living in Taipei, currently being on board Project Lookman. He is specialized in integrating knowledge from different disciplines, cooperates with the artist's affectional vocabulary to collaboratively create a profound exhibition experience for viewers. Chiu has long been interested in the verifiability of artistic language; he uses Lacanian psychoanalysis clinical system to explore the effectiveness of art as mental therapy. In 2017, he attained a master’s degree from Graduate Institute of Trans-disciplinary Art - Taipei National University of the Arts. The content of his practice is diverse, including individual or group exhibitions featuring local and international artists. He established N-factory Artist-in-Residency Program in Tainan with his partner, lunched series of exhibitions, and presented a number of international exchange and cooperation projects.


▎Introduction to Organizer
Project Lookman is a team established to promote contemporary art practices. The term “Look” means that the team shall encourage oneself through the accurate insight into the current situation; “Man” means to adopt the image of pragmatic laborers; “Project” represents the creation of different experience for the participants by the team. We are trying to uncover more possibilities of art exchange with the society in the field of contemporary art and literature in Taiwan. While continuing to maintain the avant-garde characteristics of the arts and expand our territory, we will make art more amiable and without distance.

Lookman aims to promote spatial matchmaking between artists and organizations that need the artist, inject the original still space with new vitality, transforming it into an exhibition space, a studio, a research center, or a meeting place to promote a more lively and friendly space.

Lookman conducts aesthetic promotion. Regardless of age, gender identity, and political preferences, aesthetic education should be applicable to everyone in order to make up for the shortcomings of basic aesthetic education, even higher aesthetic education. Through lectures, courses, gatherings, workshops, curatorial exhibitions and others, Lookman connects participants with the pulse of contemporary art, enabling art to be spread out all over the streets and alleyways.

There are also curatorial experiments. Project Lookman, located in Wanhua, is forward-looking in nature, and contains various projects with international and local characteristics. The team also adopts a diverse and inclusive attitude to continue to encourage young creators, including amateur artists without academic training. We also combine the power of creation with the possibilities of multiple cultures, including regional thematic exhibitions combined with community creation.

主辦單位 Organizer：
瞧夫觀光計劃 Project Lookman

協辦單位 Executive Co-organizer：
燦爛時光：東南亞主題書店 Brilliant Time bookstore

媒體協力Media Partner：
數位荒原駐站暨群島資料庫 NML Residency & Nusantara Archive

場地協力Co-organizer：
龍山文創基地 Longshan Cultural & Creative Base

贊助單位Sponsor：
中華民國文化部 Ministry of Culture Taiwan
台北市政府文化局 Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government

主視覺設計 Graphic Design：
施啟元 Shih Chi Yuan

相關評論

鑽石島－李奎壁個展 --- 吳介祥