www.lcy.tw

 

“I’m from Taiwan, a small island in east Asia. The formal name of Taiwan is in fact the ‘Republic of China.’ Yes she is China, but no, she is not the China that people think about which is big and communistic.”

 

The confusing ‘China vs China’ situation was the consequence of the civil war in 1949, which causes a well of anxiety and confusion regarding self-identity. However, many hold the view that people in Taiwan and mainland China still shares similar cultural origin and the linguistic root.

 

Chia-Yu Lee moved to Beijing in 2011 for a residency program with some unverified imaginations for ‘China.’ Life there was full of surprises. Of course it was not too hard for him to blend in since the appearance and language in use are not much different from Lee’s origin in Taiwan. However he gradually realized the indescribable oddity between the two locales regarding the unspeakable, nuanced difference on a daily basis. Although these feelings were minor and obscure, it was not about blatant cultural differences which people from various nationalities naturally carry. Those traits belonged to a realm which were innocuous at first glance but went gradually wrong soon after.

 

To Lee, the situation he was caught in is comparable to making copies of a picture with a transparent piece of paper: the images on the original and the copy look identical - but always giving out a sense that there is something indescribably different.

 

These little moments of epiphany Lee refers to as ‘strangeness attacks’ captivated his imagination during his residency period. The cause for the nuanced difference interested him enormously. Could it be the 60 years of drastically divergent political systems in place? Maybe. Different educations? Perhaps. Different financial situations? Possible. As Lee’s mind mulled through the kinds of possibilities, he tried to capture those fleeting moments with his camera. The technicality of choice for the Strangeness Attack series renders a dual paradox as it aims neither to faithfully illustrate the gradation of strangeness, nor technically manipulated the images captured. What Lee presents was a ‘happening,’ where the moments of ‘strangeness’ attacked simultaneously from all front.

 

「人類社會的不平等與無能溝通，在創作思考時被更加凸顯，其結果是尋求意義的不可得。」

 

2011年，我帶著一些未經證實的「中國想像」搬到了北京。那裏的生活充滿驚奇，當然要融入那裏的生活不是太難，畢竟長相跟使用的語言都一樣。可漸漸地，我在日常生活中感覺到越來越多無可言喻的怪異。那感受微小且晦澀不明，並非顯而易見的族群差異，而是些第一眼不覺有異，後來才慢慢覺得不對勁的奇異感。就像用描圖紙複寫圖片，兩張圖片看起來相同，但心裡總覺得它們不同。這些小小的「奇異衝擊」讓我很感興趣，不自主地會去思考背後的原因。是六十年來不同的政體？或許。不同的教育？或許。不同的經濟狀況？或許。當我想著這些可能，也同樣試著用相機捕捉那些感受。這些照片絕非忠實的紀錄，但也並非擺拍，那些都是我在北京的真實生活，我試著捉住那「奇異衝擊」的片刻。

 

北京城郊，藝術聚落與庶民生活交織的風景。本次展出作品來自系列〈奇異片刻〉。

 

李佳祐，工程與藝術背景，職涯曲折，現以創作及鋼琴調音為職。