蔡昱廷個展 - 不眠山 Yu Ting Tsai Solo Exhibition - Seeking for Absent Forms in Forests

蔡昱廷個展 - 不眠山

Yu Ting Tsai Solo Exhibition - Seeking for Absent Forms in Forests

夜晚的靜謐是登山者出發的時刻，像是夢遊一般地闖進黑暗的森林中。

約莫七年的時間，藝術家作為高山嚮導在臺灣廣袤的山林中持續攀爬，見證過生命的殞落、攀登的迷戀、光怪陸離的故事又或是在山林中看見臺灣複雜歷史的感嘆，那長時間住在山中與外界斷聯的日子，總能有許多體悟。

山林不僅隱藏文明發展的遺忘痕跡，也創造了某種中介地帶，被時間掩蓋的歷史、記憶、人類的慾望與失蹤的人彷彿化作幽魂，徘徊在蒼翠的樹影中。

展覽試圖聚焦於『失蹤』作為一種存在的狀態，山中聚落遺址難以接近的失蹤、黑夜山林攀爬身體與意識解離的失蹤狀態以及日治時期至民國初期，威權轉移下文化銜接的模糊地帶，它們同樣位於中介地帶之中。觀者與藝術家，身在其中，失蹤的存在狀態，一切都在巨大的循環中息息相關。同時展覽探索觀者觀看的出神狀態，意識跨越時間線，關於日本

殖民、山林產業與臺灣人民之間逐漸消散的集體記憶，被山林的異質空間所包覆。

The silence of night marks the hour when mountain-climbers depart. Like sleepwalking, they intrude into the darkened forests.

For seven years, having witnessed the final moments in life, a mountain guide as an artist is climbing continuously in the thick and dense forests in Taiwan. There exists the allure of ascending and the bizarre tales and the sighs of history through the dense woodlands. In those long days, being isolated from the world outside, the artist found countless revelations.

The mountains not only hide the forgotten traces of civilization but also forge an "Liminal Zone". Time-buried history, faded memories, human desires, and the missing humans being specters have drifted in the shadows of ancient trees.

This exhibition makes a focus of "disappearance" as a state of existence: the elusive disappearance of inaccessible mountain ruins, the dissociative state of body and mind while climbing through the nocturnal forest, and the ambiguous zones of cultural transition from the Japanese colonial era to the early Republic period. All reside within this liminal zone. The artist and the observer dwell in this state of absence, where all things are bound within a grand cycle.

The exhibition also explores the entranced state of the viewer, in which consciousness transcends the boundaries of time, enveloped by different space of forests in the mountains. It reflects on the gradually fading collective memories of Japanese colonization, forest industries, and Taiwanese people shrouded within the ethereal woods.

深山公路 Mountainous Road

2024

電子材料、滾輪、木材、吊燈、纜線、馬達、控制板、喇叭

Electronic materials, Roller, Woods, Light, Cable, Motor, Controller, Speaker

100cm x 200cm x 350cm (L x W x H)

在凌晨的黑夜中啟程攀登，在那個意識與身體尚未完全清醒的時刻，在黑色的山林裡攀爬，意識與身體的中介位在何處? 裝置為藝術家作為登山者於阿里山中霞山鐵道遺跡所見之木製簡易電線桿重新改造並結合吊燈樣貌，使用動力裝置使黃色燈光隨著人的腳步漫遊上下擺盪，敘說著登山者在沈沈的黑夜中出發攀登的獨白，回應藝術家在深山工作站的記憶與行山路中沈寂的失蹤狀態。

裝置每十分鐘，以緩慢的速度上下移動。

It Which Remains

2024

複合混凝土、壓克力顏料、植物、金屬件、木板

Composite concrete, Acrylic, Plants, Metal fittings, Wooden panel

60cm x 18.5cm x 84cm (L x W x H)

作為一個現實與虛構交織而成的場景，作為一幅畫，在白牆中迴盪不斷，下山的那一刻，才明白那是從不眠山帶回的遺物。以中央樹靈塔作為核心，整場展覽之凝聚呈現，磨學毅筆、磨學毅製作。

山林指南 A Guide for Forest Entry

2024

壓克力顏料、牆壁 Acrylic, Wall

650cm x 350cm (W x H)

1. 中介地帶 ＝失蹤的存在狀態，現實與幻象的交界。

2. 水山聚落，於2023年到達之處，僅存在歷史紀錄中，消失於現今地圖上。

3. 做為登山嚮導，藝術家做為登山嚮導，從事登山、登山者已有6年時間。

4. 新高西山山神廟事件，藝術家作為嚮導在登山過程中親身經歷的靈異故事。

5. 樹靈塔，1935年，日治時期所建造，弔慰樹靈的紀念碑，有許多神秘色彩故事。

6. 日本殖民時期 - 林業，日治時期林業發達，出現了許多作為生產目的性之異質空間。

7. 時代與時代間的文化重建，在時代政權的轉移下，出現的文化重建、塑造過程。

1. Liminal Zone : The state of missing existence, the boundary between reality and illusion.

2. Shuishan Village : The place arrived in 2023, existing only in historical records, and has disappeared from current maps.

3. Being a Mountain Guide : The artist has been working as a mountain guider and climber for six years.

4. Jade Mountain West Peak Shrine Event : A mysterious story experienced by the artist while guiding.

5. Pagoda of the Tree Spirit : Built in 1935 during Japanese colonial period, a monument to console tree spirits, surrounded by many mysterious stories.

6. Forestry During Japanese Colonial Period : The forest industry was developed during Japanese colonial period, leading to the emergence of many heterotopias for production purposes.

7. Cultural Reconstruction Between Eras : The process of cultural reconstruction and shaping that occurred with the transfer of power between eras.

不眠山 Seeking for Forms in a Forest

2024

單頻道錄像 Single-Channel Video

Video Length : 26 min

對於魅影的對白與哀悼，真實與虛構故事交錯，在意識中介地帶下出現的預兆，時代流轉下被留下的意識、文化又或是真正意義上被留下來的人。錄像中部分以日本能劇為底蘊，講述關於日治所建 - 樹靈塔的故事。關於消失的伐木工人以及被冠上神秘色彩的故事，並指涉在政權轉移的文化重建之上，被扭曲、改編的歷史史據以某種意識形態、神秘色彩傳播。

The video is a dialogue and lamentation for phantoms, in which reality and fiction intertwine. It presents omens that appear in the liminal space of consciousness—remnants of awareness, culture, or perhaps people who have truly been left behind through the passage of time. Part of the video draws on the essence of Japanese Noh theater, telling the story of the " Pagoda of the Tree Spirit," built during Japanese occupation. It speaks of the vanished lumber workers and the stories shrouded in mystery, referencing the cultural reconstruction that took place during the transfer of political power, in which the historical facts were distorted, adapted, and spread with certain ideologies and an air of mystery.

新高西山山神廟 Jade Mountain West Peak Shrine

樹靈塔 Pagoda of the Tree Spirit

於阿里山演繹虛構的日本能劇片段。以錄像作品展現個人對此段歷史的回望與反思，能劇在日本多以傳達神怪故事為主，呼應神靈的存在，透過後殖民的視角再度審視臺灣的歷史。

Lost Shades

2024

42cm x 60cm

失蹤的伐木工人、時代背景、作品脈絡的串聯書寫，演員擬仿照片以及生成內容，重新撰寫歷史史據，虛擬與現實融接而成的新現實、世界觀，同時也是另一部分進入展覽的線索。

This work is about the serial writing of the missing loggers, work context and the background in history. The artist tries to rewrite a history book and for newspapers using actor - simulated photographs and generative content, providing another path to the exhibition.A new reality made of fiction and reality.