Experiencing Art and Being Part of The Art

Trust & Confusion

若你走進一個陌生、四面都是白色牆的「白立方」空間裡,突然一位陌生人前來,坐到你的身旁,他遞上一張白色的小卡紙,溫柔地詢問:「我可以在你的旁邊一起呼吸嗎?」然後,你看看手裡的卡紙,上面寫著:

你呼吸的節奏
和這房間裡
所有呼吸的節奏
時而齊唱
時而分奏

這是個合唱團

心裡滋生著莫名的不解,迷惑、好奇湧上心頭,自然地建起一道防備的牆。別過頭來,觀察房間裡時而行走、時而停步的人們,一起呼吸著房間裡的空氣,有時急促、有時緩慢;還有一個人邊走邊以喉嚨發出響亮的聲音,那聲音的震動在房間裡迴盪著。如果把這一切都轉化成音符,這會不會是一節美妙的旋律呢?不安感在一呼一吸裡逐漸地消散在房間裡。

回過神來,看一看旁邊的他,他也緩緩地望過來,輕輕地點頭微笑。

這是大館正在進行的「信任&迷惑」展覽裡其中一個現場藝術的體驗。短短的數分鐘,內心正好經歷了似是而非的「信任」和「迷惑」。這個長達8個月的展覽,不同一貫的的藝術展覽,除了多件固定的展品外,展覽現場有超過20件作品將會隨著時間推展、人們的偶然加入而演化和累積。走進展覽現場時,你或許會看到一齣突發的獨舞、一段五音不全的合唱表演、一粒打開新嗅覺的分子、鳥兒和人類的對話聲、用過百顆釘組合成的鞋子……身處其中,每位觀眾都會以被動或主動的形式參與現場藝術,有些更是單對單的表演,需要透過與觀眾互動才得以完成,使前來觀賞展覽的觀眾也能偶然地成為「藝術品」之一。

「信任&迷惑」讓你、我、他/她在新的聯想和新的體驗共享當下,並在此建立新的關係。策展人譚雪和Raimundas Malašauskas在導覽時提到在2019年初次構思展覽時,希望能創造一個讓人團聚的空間,尤其是在經歷社會動盪而變得兩極化和疲憊之際;及至後來經歷疫情,大多數人在無常的環境中摸索適從,就像展覽中說到的「迷惑」。我們每天遇上的人和事物,無論是命中注定或一切皆偶然、沒意義或是混沌不堪,也是不要緊的。展覽裡的體驗告訴我們,只要敞開心胸,接受每一個未知的邀請,並專注感受內心的風景,便能與迷惑同行。就像當你決定讓自己下墜,相信有一雙臂會好好接住你一樣。請相信我們會到達一個更美好、更安全的地方,即使過程中感到如斯迷惑。

「信任&迷惑」亦會在網上( www.trusting.hk )每周發布由藝術家、作家、詩人和編舞家創作的聲音作品,向人聲這個最生動和直接的交流方式致敬。

Imagine yourself walking into a room with all-white walls. It is a simple white cube space, and a strange, new place to you. Suddenly, a stranger comes over and sits next to you. He hands you a small white card and gently asks, “May I breathe with you, by your side?” You then take a look at the card in your hand, which says:

“the rhythm of your breath
and the rhythms of all breaths
in the room
are falling in and out of unison

it’s a choir”

Though curious, the sense of bewilderment and confusion fence you in. You turn around to take a good look at the other people in the room. Some of them are walking, some of them are taking a pause. They are all breathing, fast and slow. There is a person who is walking. A loud and clear sound is emanating from his throat, filling the room. If this sound were to be transformed into musical notes, will it turn into some beautiful melody? Anxiousness gradually subsides as the breathing goes.

Back from observing, you turn to take a look at the stranger next to you. Slowly he looks over, nods, and smiles.

This is one of the live art experiences of the trust & confusion exhibition which is currently showcasing in Tai Kwun. In just a few minutes, one can experience the seemingly specious sense of trust and confusion. The eight-month exhibition comes off as a unique experience to viewers for it includes a number of exhibits that maintain their configuration throughout the exhibition, plus more than 20 works that evolve and accumulate with the unfolding of time and interaction with viewers. As you move along through the exhibition site, there is a chance that you might be caught by an impromptu solo dance, a chorus by some tone-deaf singers, a molecule that opens up a new olfactory possibility, the sounds of birds and humans conversing, shoes that are made up of hundreds of nails…… Viewers engage with these encounters, either passively or actively; and while some of these encounters require viewer’s interaction, the viewers in turn become part of the artwork.

Trust & Confusion offers a venue for you and I to share the temporality and create a new relationship with each other, along with new associations and experiences. The exhibition curators Xue Tan and Raimundas Malašauskas mentioned that when they first sketched out the contours of the exhibition in 2019, they wished to create a space for people to come together, especially at a time when society was polarised and exhausted by social turmoil and when people got confused and struggled to navigate within the ever-changing world during the pandemic. It doesn’t matter who and what we encounter everyday, whether by destiny or accident, or through meaningless or confusing occasions. What matters is that we should be open to observing how things emerge in relation to each other and giving attention to our inner landscape; because in that way, we will be able to sail through the spectacles that are taking place around us. As in believing that the arms you decide to fall into will catch and hold you tight, please trust that we will arrive at a better and safer place, no matter how confused we may now feel.

As a tribute to the human voice as the most vibrant and direct form of communication, a weekly release of voices by artists, writers, poets, and choreographers is available on www.trusting.hk.

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Trust & Confusion Exhibition
Period: Now to 5 December 2021
Venue: Tai Kwun Contemporary

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