島外．外島－邱奕辰個展: Off the Island - Chiu Yi-Chen Solo Exhibition

大河美術將舉辦邱奕辰最新個展《島外．外島》，繼藝術家前一檔個展《超時空行旅》後，視角從夢幻國度轉為更聚焦於現世，引領觀者來一場深度旅程。本展集結了近三年來邱奕辰從金門駐村到回臺後的生活體驗，以金門島的特色為根基來重編故事，透過對島嶼的觀察及記憶的延續，由地面穿梭到海洋，海洋到天空再到宇宙的過程，實現了時空移動，串聯了整個展覽，反映其內心對現實與非現實的時空想像，亦同時傳達了一個描繪大環境變動的新敘事方式。

 

展覽從第一展區「島外」啟程，以「人」切入與大自然對話，飛行員與觀者像第三者般審視自己居住的城市、再生島與一觸即發的局面。接著透過第二展區「外島——金門」，先是身處島外來觀看外島，再藉由龍舌蘭意象過場進入第三展區「島內」，漸漸以「動物、大自然」為第一人稱，述說著面對環境嚴峻的各種聲音。地下室展區特別設置軍事戰地常見的偽裝網，以及沙灘意象，並播放藝術家於金門駐村時期錄製之夜遊金門坑道的影像，讓觀者能夠觸發更多的感受，與我們一同換位思考。

 

藉由空間劇場連結時空，延伸自我潛意識的穿越與精神想像，是邱奕辰創作裡的重要表現形式。前期幾個代表系列〈憶晨競技場〉所延伸出的支系，如〈午夜場〉、〈再生夢園〉、〈山語〉等單元性主題作品，在空間視角上，用時而宏觀時則微觀的方式，表達生命體彼此的共生界域，或聚焦於互動及對話關係，是前次《超時空行旅》所圍繞的主軸，而這樣的劇本將進一步在此次的《島外．外島》中，更加聚焦於我們所生活的世界。想像力構建的故事文本，乍看抽離現實，卻在心理層面與現實經驗有某種內在聯繫，不只關乎藝術家的童年成長記憶，也關心著現世脈絡體系，兩者由「事件」彼此扣合，就像電影及電玩場景中的轉場，從我們既有經驗的想像，不斷地延伸與重組。

 

邱奕辰試圖闡述「記憶」與「回憶」之間的微妙關係。於他而言，「記憶」所具備的存儲特性，如同其腦內及生命經驗所見，選定元素並使它們成為說故事的符號，是繪畫象徵的存在物；而「回憶」則扮演著說故事的行為本身。兩者交互作用的過程中，從經驗回溯到想像力的加工，最後形成其專屬的世界觀。此外，在本次展覽作品中，亦能看到他觸及了以動物權利及環境保護的整體視角來思考的「生物中心主義」（biocentrism），以及以人類活動為主要研究目標的「人文地理學」（human geography），兩者之間對於「存在」問題的思考，並於最後帶出「共生人文」的議題，期許在思索人與環境議題時，能夠找到共生的平衡，既不放棄人文的進步，亦保有對環境與物種的關懷。

 

2020年，邱奕辰於金門藝術駐村，透過置換到不同場域，延伸創作出〈再生島〉系列、〈沉默的衛兵〉、〈太武山之役〉、〈浯島秘境〉、〈浯江溪口的等待〉等，討論有關歷史記憶與不同載體的生命力轉換問題，舉凡荒地重生、重啟生命或無聲的生機等，都可視為藝術家在其精神裡的反思與關照。此次同樣也有展出數件駐村時期同時發展的近作，相較於以往的呈現方式有了較具突破性的特殊視角——面對衝突情境的「飛行員」。這些作品觸及了近年再度勾起的區域衝突、戰爭、極端氣候等議題。究竟如何透過觀者的後設心境，產生更開放性的突破？而城市與自然的壁壘如何界定，共生的未來如何被重構？邀請觀者前往島與島的國度，尋找心中真正的答案。

 

"Off the Island", being the latest solo exhibition of Chiu Yi-Chen, will be held in RIVER ART GALLERY soon. In contrast to the artist's previous solo exhibition, "Hyper-spacetime Travel", the upcoming exhibition shifts the perspective from a wonderland to one that focuses more on the worldly matters, leading the viewer on an in-depth journey. It brings together the life experiences of Chiu Yi-Chen from his residency in Kinmen to his return to Taiwan in the past three years. Through the observation of the island and the continuation of memory, the storyline for the exhibition is rewritten based on the characteristics of Kinmen Island. The focus has been gone though from the ground to the sea, the sea to the sky and then to the universe. Such a process of traveling has not only realized the movement of time and space, but also suggested the connection of artworks in this exhibition. It reflects Chiu’s imagination of reality and non-reality for time and space as well as conveys a new narrative way of depicting the changes of the environment.

 

As the first section, "Off the Island", sets out for this exhibition, it depicts how "humankind" is taken as a dialoguing approach with nature; how the pilot and the viewer are able to appreciate the city they live in, the Reborn Island and the touch-and-go situation with a third person sight. Then, in the second exhibition area, "Offshore Island - Kinmen", we may firstly see the offshore island by the perspective outside the island, and know we will soon arrive the third exhibition area as the agave imagery appears. The third exhibition area, "On the Island", however, reveals the various voices when facing the severe environment by gradually using "animals and nature" as the first person to speak. The basement area is installed with beach imagery as well as the camouflage nets commonly set up in military war zones, meanwhile the artist's night tour of the Kinmen Pit recording during his residency in Kinmen is also shown on tv so that the viewer may trigger more feelings and think vicariously with us.

By connecting time and space through spatial theater, Chiu Yi-Chen extends his subconscious travel and spiritual imagination, which is an important form of expression in his creation. Extending from the series of "The Arena of Morning Memory", the unitary themes artworks such as "A Midnight Show", "Reborn Dreamland", "Mountain Language", all express the symbiotic realm of living beings in either macro or micro perspective, which further focuses on the interaction and dialogue relationship. These built the main axis for the previous "Hyper-spacetime Travel". And such a script has been further developed in this exhibition, "Off the Island", in which we may see the focus more on the world we live in. The imaginatively constructed story narrative may seem detached from reality at the first glance, but at a psychological level, it is somehow intrinsically connected to the real experience, not only about the artist's childhood memories, but also about the worldly context system. Both are interlocked by "events", just like the transitions in the movie and video game scenes, from the imagination of our existing experience, constantly extending and reorganizing.

 

Chiu Yi-Chen attempted to illustrate the subtle relationship between "memory" and "recollection". For Chiu, "memory" possesses the property of storage, as seen in his brain and life experience, selecting elements and making them symbols for storytelling, a symbolic object for painting; while "recollection" plays the role of the act of storytelling itself. In the process of interaction between the two, both requires the restropects from experience, then processing with imagination and finally form his own worldview. In addition, viewer may also see in this exhibition, Chiu has touched upon "biocentrism" with concerns of animal rights and environmental protection from an overall perspective, and "human geography" that stresses the emphasis on human activities as the main research goal; how these two render the issue of "existence" and at last bring out "symbiotic humanism" in a hope of striking a symbiotic balance when thinking about human and environmental issues, without giving up the progress of humanities, but also maintaining the care for the environment and species.

 

In 2020, Chiu Yi-Chen took up residency at Kinmen Art Village. By relocating himself in different sites, Chiu created the series "Reborn Island", "The Silent Guard", "Battle of Taiwu Mountain", "Secret Spot of Wu Island" and "Waiting by Wujiang River", which pose the issue of historical memory and transformation among the vitality of different carriers. Such as the rebirth of the wasteland, the rekindling of life, or the silent vitality can all be perceived as the artist's reflection and concern in his own spirit. This time, we also present several Chiu's recent artworks developed during the residency period, which have a peculiar perspective that is more groundbreaking than the previous ones - "pilots" in conflict situations. These works of art touch on issues of regional conflicts, wars, and extreme climate that have been resurfaced in recent years. By posing questions: how can a more open breakthrough be created through the viewer's postulated state of mind? How can the barriers between city and nature be defined as well as how can the future of symbiosis be reconstructed? The viewers are invited to this exhibition, setting out for the island and land of islands to find the real answers in own minds.