我們穿過小森林，在快要倒塌的二樓小心翼翼地移動。冬天，天色比平日更早入黑，我們來不及害怕，在樓高兩層的廢棄小房子裡走著，在伸手可到的地方裡撿起幾張圓形木板，那是鐵造的椅子架，全都生鏽到有點剝落，明明是很堅固的東西，在年月裡風吹日曬，還是會變得脆弱無比。
Through a small forest, we came to the second level that is on the brink of collapsing and moved carefully. During winter, day falls into night earlier than normal, there was no time to fear. Walking about in a small abandoned two-story house, we picked up a few round wooden boards within reach. They were chair frames made of metal, so rusted that they were slightly falling apart. Such firm things, after months and years of exposure to wind and sun, became exceedingly brittle after all.
聽到我說撿到生鏽的椅子，纖維藝術家陳穎亭說：「一定好美。」她專注的纖維藝術，不只植物染，還有「鐵鏽染」。
「生鏽其實是一種氧化作用，鐵本身是礦物，當鐵遇到水及氧氣，就會生鏽。」穎亭用最簡單的詞語解釋生鏽過程，平凡人如我只會看到「生鏽」，又怎會思考為甚麼？
「所以『鐵鏽染』是天然的？」因為鐵製成的產品看似非常人工，很難跟「天然」聯想起來。
「是，鐵鏽染是天然的，即使布料染後使用的媒染劑也是天然金屬礦物。」我沒有絕對執著天然，但也重新想起礦物也是天然，而非只有從泥土長出的才算是天然。
Hearing me talking about my rusty chair finds, fibre artist Ying-ting Chen said, “Must be beautiful.” She specialises in fibre art that involves not only plant dyeing, but also “rust dyeing”.
“Rusting is in fact a kind of oxidation reaction. Metal is essentially a mineral, when metal meets water and oxygen, rust develops.” Ying-ting used the simplest terms to explain the rusting process. Ordinary people like me only see the “rusting”, do we ever think about why?
“Therefore ‘rust dyeing’ is natural?” Because metal products appear so manufactured, they are hardly associated with the “natural”.
“Yes, rust dyeing is natural, even the mordants we use after textile dyeing are natural metal minerals.” I don’t have an absolute preference for the natural, but I was realising that minerals are natural too, and not only those grown out of soil.
「鏽染是怎樣進行的？」我有學習過藍染，那是冷染的一種，靛藍色的染料是從植物甘藍葉提煉出來的。「鏽染的染料是不是也是浸泡生鐵而成的？等一下，那些鏽染作品比較多留白，甚至能呈現鐵物的外形，所以不是使用浸泡的方法。」就像偵探，我總想解構如何造成這作品。
穎亭溫柔又肯定地回應：「每天早上，我回工作室，就像為植物澆水一樣，看看鋪在生鏽鐵物的布料鏽染的情況，為他們加水補濕，只能讓時間為布料染上鏽跡。」每件布料都需要花上三到五天來染上鏽的紋路，再加上鐵物本身「生鏽」需時，之後又得花時間處理布料，熨平、剪裁、設計。「你的作品真能夠體現時間的流動。」我想到疫情，有些人覺得度日如年，有些人覺得光陰似箭。不知穎亭怎麼看疫情對創作的影響。
「用正向的方法去想，光陰對我來說是『力量』，做工藝很花時間，疫情前有很多活動，疫情間我可以沉醉於創作，內化一件事，需要時間醞釀。」穎亭繼續說： 「時間會給布料、作品美麗的顏色，尤其是把使用了很久、很有感情的工具，如裁縫用的剪刀轉染鏽跡到布料上，也就成了視覺上的美。」
“How is rust dyeing done?” I have learned about indigo dyeing, a form of cold water dyeing where the indigo dye is extracted from the greenish blue leaves of plants. “Is the rust dye formed by soaking metal too? Wait, rust dye works contain more blank space and can even take on the shape of the metal, so it’s not done by soaking.” Like a detective, I was keen to break down how this work was created.
Ying-ting responded gently but firmly, “Every morning when I return to the studio, like watering plants, I look at the rust dyeing situation on the fabrics that spread across the rusting metal, and add water to keep them moist. Only time can dye the fabrics with rust marks.” Each fabric takes three to five days for the rust dye patterns to fix. Moreover, metal takes time to “develop rust”, and still more time is needed for fabric treatment, ironing, cutting and design. “Your work really reflects the flow of time.” I thought of the pandemic. For some people, the days feel like years, while for others, time passes like an arrow. I wondered how Ying-ting saw the pandemic’s impact on creation.
“Thinking about it in a positive light, time for me is ‘power’. Making crafts is time-consuming. Before the pandemic there were many other activities, but during the pandemic, I could indulge in creation. For something to be internalised, it takes time to ferment.” Ying-ting continued, “Time gives fabrics and the works beautiful colours, especially when rust dye marks are transferred onto fabrics from tools used for a long time and with sentimental values, such as tailor scissors. It becomes a visual aesthetic.”
時間，有很多名字： 光陰、歲月、朝夕⋯⋯ 把時間利用鏽染，把看似沒有價值的生鏽之物轉化，讓布料成為載體，延續了鏽的壽命，在時間之中鏽其實會生長的。「事情沒有絕對性，留白跟染上鏽跡並沒衝突，我希望大家使用時，會感到時間的重要性。」我們就單純地使用穎亭的作品，在日月的見證下體驗鏽染織物（Rusted Objects）的力量。
Time has many names: light and darkness, months and years, day and night… As time takes rust dyeing as a means to transform seemingly worthless rusted objects, fabrics become a medium, they extend the lifespan of rust. Over time, rust actually grows. “Things are not absolute, leaving a space blank and dyeing it with rust are not contradictory. I hope that when we use them, we feel the importance of time.” And so we shall use Ying-ting’s works purely and simply, and experience the power of rusted objects while the sun and the moon bear witness.
