19 June 2021 六月十九日. Three video essays on living through time with one’s bodily presence. Tracey Ngai acts out her retrospection. Faith Monsod turns image objects into a passage to the infinite liminal. Pun Tsz-wai’s past resides in media artefacts and urban legends. Three fresh videos completed in May 2021, premiered at Floating Projects. 三個今年五月新鮮出爐的錄像文章。據點首次亮相。記憶是甚麼?我是誰?我的根是甚麼?用身體的實存與行動。魏芷軍演述;潘子懷在都市神話中設置自己;Faith Monsod 的主體盡在可翻開可啄蘑的聲影碎片中。
It is perhaps a maker’s natural obsession to narrate oneself, deliberately or not, but through one’s life-time. A Trip to There, Tracey’s graduation thesis, is in a way a monumental push to enter this journey in flux. Embracing all she can, there also always seems to be void to fill. Traces of her having been there are as concrete with a forensic rigor. 每個創作者都曾經 — 以至窮盡一生 — 有意識或不自覺的記述自我。年青藝術創作人魏芷軍很用力的穿過這甬道,滿滿的收穫,卻又惘然若失。實在的卻是用時間和身體鑄出來的創作道途。愛看(錄像)作品的朋友們:這裡,你會讀到一個認真地記下來的寶貴創作歷程。潛進後,我們會對藝術的耕耘多一份敬意嗎?
Is there an intangible essence that might embody who we are? What positions do memories hold in forming one’s identity? Do our physical bodies suffice in representing us? How much of our sense of self relies on the reflexive process that governs our interpersonal relationships? HK-born Faith Monsod commits her graduation thesis to the quest.「我是誰」可以被理解為無形的實質嗎?例如,記憶能賦予我個人身份嗎?我的身體足以表徵我時誰?我的「自我意識」有多少是由我與別人的變動中的關係所衍生的?出生於香港的 Faith Monsod 用一個21分鐘的畢業作品去回應。
“Born in the later part of 97, I never got to experience Lai Yuen. For me, it is a place constructed by words and stories. … I would hear bits and pieces about the park and, somehow, it became part of my own childhood, part of my own memory.” (Pun Tsz-wai)「我出生於1997年的下半年,從未經驗過荔園是怎樣的。它是個由別人的字詞和故事合成的地方。一點一滴的聽著,荔園好像就是我自己的童年,是我個人的記憶。」– 潘子懷
In the 5th and final part of Linda Lai’s Prolog for Our Manifestos II reproduced in Floating Teatime, she asserts art’s power to generate knowledge, citing several theorists in Critical Theory, reiterating the place of experience. 《我們的錄像宣言2》的「引言」來到轉載「據點一杯茶」的最後一節:黎肖嫻引述不同「批評理論」的觀點,總結錄像書寫不單帶有生產知識的能量,更打開對「經驗」的重塑。
Our Manifestos II upholds videography beyond the concern of moving image aesthetics and opens up the ethics of art practices to embrace the complex, crisis-ridden contexts in which we live. In the 3rd of the 5-part series, Linda Lai maintains the necessity of manifesto-writing to be fluid, performative, dialectical practices.《我們的錄像宣言2》於「據點一杯茶」5次連載的第3篇:黎肖嫻堅持宣言寫作思維實踐上的獨立性,撇開西方現代性的歷史包袱,辯證的、演述式的、柔潤的發揮宣言的力,儘管如何短暫,有待轉化。
The “Prolog” of “Our Manifestos II” (2021.05) explicitly examines videography as a way of living, an attitude of life, and the quest for in-depth transformation in the midst of complex, crisis living. In the 2nd of the 5-part series, Linda Lai discusses videography as soundings, ways to voice out as crafted thought paths, the materiality of remembering as micro narratives.《我們的錄像宣言2》於「據點一杯茶」5次連載的第2篇:黎肖嫻開宗明義把錄像書寫看為一種創作人的活的型態和取向,以至於對深度轉化的渴求。如是,對錄像書寫的認知遠超狹義的藝術操守和理所當然的影像美學。這次,她提出了錄像書寫作為「發聲」的藝術的面向。「記住」,必須透過「思路」的展現,而這就是錄像的「微」敘事性格。
The “Prolog” of “Our Manifestos II: Videography, Documentary Impulses” (2021.05) explicitly examines videography as a way of living, an attitude of life, and the quest for in-depth transformation in the midst of complex, crisis living. In 5 parts, project initiator Linda Lai relates the process of the book-creation project and the different takes of the many artists involved. Part 1 describes the meandering journey. 「據點一杯茶」將以5次短篇連載《我們的錄像宣言2:記述的衝動》的序言。黎肖嫻開宗明義把錄像書寫看為一種創作人的活的型態和取向,以至於對深度轉化的渴求,以對應如何活在繁複、糾結、充滿噪音的當下。如是,錄像書寫的認知和反省遠超狹義的藝術操守和理所當然的影像美學。首篇記述召集各方創作人合力分享所穿過的崎嶇過程。
“Motives for. Remembering,” the 2nd book launch conversation for Our Manifestos 2: Videography, Documentary Impulses took place on-line 28 May. The conversations continue as Natalie Chao wrote to Linda Lai after her postscript with Zach McLane, this time, delving into how our body remembers and why manifesto-writing will not be obsolete. … 「錄像宣言2」新書發佈會2 — 網絡研討會『為何要記住』5月28日在據點舉行。繼 Zach McLane 傳來研討後記,另一位年青影像創作人趙芷妮又透過電郵與黎肖嫻進行跟進討論,想起身體如何記住,為何還要寫宣言。
The 2nd of the three book launch events for “Our Manifestos 2: Videography, Documentary Impulse” took place on-line last night with our artists participating from the Los Angeles, London, HK and Shanghai in the form of a webinar. Zach McLane and Linda Lai had a follow-up email conversation in which Zach points out issues for further address — now published as a postscript to the webinar… 「錄像宣言2」新書發佈會2 (網絡研討會)昨晚在據點舉行,受邀參與這計劃的藝術家來自美英中港。會後 LA 的年青創作人 Zach McLane 與黎肖嫻進行了小小的電郵跟進討論,點出了未來有待深化的議題。