Copyright 2007-2012
Built with Indexhibit

Bangka:
Public Space and Imagination

by Wang Chun-Chi

“In 1920, Japanese people restructured administrative regions in Taiwan. Bangka, Dadaocheng, Dalongdon, three districts that used to be directly under Taihoku Prefecture ( 台北廳 ) became Taipei City belonging to the Taihoku State ( 台北州 ). That was when the name ‘Bangka’ was of cially discarded. Since then, Japanese people called the place that used to be Bangka as ‘Wanhua’.”
This research projects started from the site of Bangka. Typically discussions about space in the city relate to a speci c-temporal framework, which the term ‘site’ suggests: the special smells, feelings, and reminiscences of memory. Like when we see a building in a city, we can be confused by its current appearance, ignoring
its form in the past or the future. So when I curated the exhibition, the basic idea was to present spatial concepts of the past, the present, and the future. It was by following this abstract idea that I began to integrate some other aesthetic expressions, attempting to represent the spatial and temporal attributes of Bangka’s cultural sites through a variety of displays and performances, as well as interactions with public spaces. Starting from November 22, for a period of four weeks, the artists carried out eld studies at a number of sites in the old blocks’ commercial areas (centered around Wanhua train stations, concentrated and extending from Kangding Road and Dali Street). With a base at such a special urban site as
Bangka’s old city blocks, artists were invited to provide visual and performative presentations in an attempt to evoke and stimulate
all kinds of urban memories and visual imageries. By producing, co-producing, and presenting theirs works, the project has woven together and simultaneously represented echoes of Bangka’s history. Some of the invited artists developed concepts of relativity through a combined practice of installation and performance. This sense of the relative is not only rooted in human interaction but also in the interaction among different forms of cultural context.
The show takes “Hieroglyphic Memory: Surveying Bangka through Narrative Trace” as its subject. Some participating artists are familiar with Bangka whereas others are not. Through
8 different interpretive experiences, they provide re ections on 9 speci c localities through their works, generating rich layers of
multiple cross-sections. The show features nine artists and an
artists’ duo: Ting Chaong-Wen (TW), Cheng Ting-Ting (TW), Hou
I-Ting (TW), Lin Cheng-Wei (TW), Cheng Jen-Pei (TW), Chiriro Minato (JP), Joongho Yum (KR), bösediva (Elisa Duca and Robin Detje) (DE), Duncan (UK), Fabien Lerat (FR). Additionally, a number of forums will be held in conjunction with the exhibition; scholars from different elds will dialogue with participating artists in the expectation of bringing together members of the audience, scholars and artists in conversation.

interview
Joongho Yum

1.
In your statement before the exhibition you reflect on the fact that Taiwan and Korea have parallel histories of colonization under the Japanese. Do you see similar cultural manifestations of colonization in Taiwan and in Korea?
在展前的宣言中,你提到台灣和韓國同樣具有日本殖民的歷史。你是否在兩地的文化表現中,發現類似的軌跡?

Both Korea and Taiwan have colonial experiences under the rule of Japan. While Korea remains very negative about Japan's colonial management, Taiwan does not seem to react the same way. For the Taiwanese, the Japanese occupation may have produced some positive effects at the time.
Under the same reign, the condition of each colony can be very different. I think that the colonial situation in Taiwan was very difference from that of Korea. Therefore, I don’t know what exactly it was like at the time in Taiwan. But I certainly feel that Taiwanese people have some good feelings about the Japanese colonization. The government seems to be relatively generous to them in the past.
台灣和韓國在日本的統治下,都有被殖民的經驗。儘管韓國對於日方的殖民處理保持著負面的看法,台灣倒有不同的反應。對於台灣人來說,日本的佔領可能在當時產生了一些正面的效益。
在同樣的殖民政權之下,每一個殖民地的狀況還是有所出入。我想台灣的殖民狀況和韓國應該很不一樣。因而,我不太知道台灣當時是何景況。但我的確感受到台灣人對於日本殖民有些良好的感受。當時的政府對他們應是相對友善。

2.
You’ve also wrote of urban renewal in Seoul and how that city no longer has the kind of old buildings you can find in Bangka. What was your experience of dealing with Bangka? Did it stimulate you in any unexpected ways?
你提到首爾的都市更新使得當地難以找到類似艋岬的老房舍。你在艋舺的經驗為何?這樣的經驗是否給你一些意外的感受?

Seoul is changing at a very fast pace. In order to accelerate the modernization of the city, people used to erase their past without second thought. This phenomenon represents a desire for new things. It destroys however people’s life at the same time.
Seoul is being renewed too much. The traces of the past, like those in the Bangka area, are getting harder to be found. I am surprised and excited to see the strange landscapes composed by the elements of its past and the present in the Bangka area. For me, it is a feeling that is hard to express in words.
首爾以一種十分迅捷的速度在更新。為了加速現代化的過程,人們曾不假思索地就抹去了過往的痕跡。這樣的現象表呈了他們對新事物的渴望,卻也破壞了人們當時的生活。
首爾的更新有些過頭。如同艋舺一般的過往軌跡,難以復尋。當我在艋舺看到新舊元素交錯的奇異天際線時,我覺得很驚訝也很興奮。那樣的感動,超越語言。

3. In creating your photograph series “Every Day Stranger Bangka”, you sought out everyday scenes, looking for what might be hidden in the ordinary. Can you tell me about the kinds of people you met on your walks?
在這次的「日常陌生人」攝影系列中,你試圖於平凡市井中找出異象。可否談談在這次的市街散步中遇到的人?

What I want to demonstrate, though the project “Every Day Stranger Bangka", is what I encountered during my strolls in the neighborhood. I did meet some people on the street. But what we had were rather some random talks. And I don't mean to take photos right in their faces. These photos are not portraits of anybody. I search rather the trace of these people. What are shown in this collection are the traces of their life and an order they establish through their daily life. I see the irony and the humor in this order.
These daily details may be considered insignificant and easily disappeared from our memory. However, it is though the reminiscent of something that we inherit our past and a new life can be thus generated.
透過這次的「日常陌生人」計畫,我試圖呈現的是我在鄰里散步中所遭遇的種種。我的確遇到一些人,但我們之間僅有一些隨機的談話。我也沒打算對著他們就拍起照片,這些照片並不是任何一人的肖像。我找尋求的反而是這些人的痕跡。這次的系列展示的是他們的生活軌跡以及藉由他們的每日生活所建立的一種秩序。我在這樣的秩序中看見了諷刺和幽默的元素。
這些日常細節或許常被忽略或輕易被遺忘,但就是在這些殘跡中,我們承襲了過往,並由新生。

4. Your method of taking photographs that lack a depth-of-field has the effect of turning the images into flattened, abstract landscapes. What are you trying to create with this effect?
藉由無景深攝影,你的照片變得平面化而有種近似抽象風景的效果。透過這樣的手法,你試圖表達什麼概念?

The photography that I am doing is neither documentary nor journalistic. It is not staged photography, either. These are “dry pictures” in which I try not to show any emotion. I am not sure if they look like abstract landscapes. But I do think that an image cannot represent the reality of a thing. Photography is a fiction. This is the character of an image.
I often try to play beyond the rules. I am against to what we call “good photos”. As an artist, I hope that my works can convey a meaning different from what other photographers would do.
我所從事的既不是紀錄式攝影,亦非新聞攝像。當然,也不是劇場式攝影。我試著盡量不要在照片中傳遞任何情緒,而使其成為一種單純的「乾影像」。我不確定它們看起來是否像抽象風景,但我確信照片無法忠實的傳遞事物的真實對狀態。照片即是虛構。這就是影像的特色。
我總試著在規則之外創作,我反對那些大家稱之為「好照片」的影像。身為一個藝術家,我希望我的作品能傳遞一些與其他攝影師不同的訊息。

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