Back to the Void

Lee Ho Wing

作家卡爾維諾將太空化作空間裡的虛空 (void)。那裡沒有快與慢;沒有方向上下;人們不知自己在上升或下降; 沒有痕跡沒有規律卻潛藏空間形態。李可穎的藝術創作大抵都是一場沒有固定方向的追尋,終點可能是回到虛空的起始。她的藝術也關於書並記錄了書本,但不盡是當中內容形成的過程,而是書本被掠奪繼而在不同地方流轉的歷程,是書本在不同空間的經歷,也是藝術家對不同場域及空間的一次思考發挖。

在最近兩次展覽中,她先以戰爭中被掠奪的書籍為起點,追溯它們到過之處,及在不同空間地域中留下的痕跡,最後伸延到圖書館這個場域。李可穎根據馮平山圖書館館長陳君葆的日記及其他文獻,尋找在日治時期在馮平山圖書館被日軍掠去的書籍。過程中繞路是無可避免,但繞路引領她到不同的空間及思考方向。在沒有預期之下,她在日本橫須賀發現了書本經短暫逗留的地方。

「透過繞路維持思考的暢通。阻滯,產生於堵。堵住了就帶來時滯,讓我慢慢找到通路。」展覽現場以木箱、錄像裝置、書籍及文獻等物料重現過程中的片段。木箱呼應「在被運送的途上」的狀態,空間設計也像是一場尋找。於是觀眾身處當中能感受到書本被掠奪後經過不同空間的流轉,也彷彿令觀眾一頭栽進藝術家的思考中。這組作品名為「走進去就卡住了」,說的是李可穎尋書的歷史痕跡的過程,也似乎是愛書人對書中世界的感受。

在修剪整理思考路途中的雜草後,李可穎在「據點‧句點」藝術空間發現了另一種書本與戰亂空間的關係。茉莉‧戈波提爾‧曼寧的《書本也參戰》是關於二戰時期美國政府收集了超過一億本書送上前戰,讓士兵在參戰期間也有精神食糧的故事,「據點圖書館」於是在前線隨處可見。尋找線索的路途中總有缺口讓事情有新發展,從書本到以據點為名的藝術空間,再找到據點圖書館。像實體也是抽象的來回運送路程,當中書籍被送到不同地點,藝術家的思考也在流動轉向。木箱也見於這個部份名為「推回到空處」的展覽中,在簡介中如是說:「貨箱是重覆出現的物件,其作用在於裝載書籍送達不同地點。運送的通道未如期許,箱子或許會被卡住某處,或須把它推進某個空間才能清空通道。這種來來回回的勞動跟創作同出一徹,沒有車輪但痕跡依然存在。」


The Italian writer Italo Calvino transformed the outer space into a void where speed and direction do not exist. People would not know whether they are going up or down in such a space that has no trace or order. Similarly, Lee Ho Wing’s artworks are also an exploration without a direction; the endpoint could as well be returning to the beginning of void. Her works are all about books or the documentation of books. However, what they explore is not about how the content was created; her focus is instead put on how books were being looted and circulated. While examining the experience books had in different places, the artist had her own expedition into different territories and space.

In her two recent exhibitions, Lee used the books being looted during wartime as a departure point to trace back places they had reached and the footprints they left in those places and territories, before reaching the libraries as a final destination. Based on the archive as well as the diary of Chan Kwan Po, the head librarian of Fung Ping Shan Library, Lee tried to retrace the books that the Japanese army looted from Fung Ping Shan Library during the Japanese occupation. Detour was inevitable during her investigation, but the detour has led her to different realm and directions, which unexpectedly brought her to Yokosuka in Japan where the books temporarily stayed.

“The sidetracks from the journey maintain the flow of unobstructed thought through detour. The obstacles result from blocking, while it brings the time lag that allows me to search the pathways slowly.” Her exploration was recreated by using wooden crates, video installation, books, archives and other materials in the exhibition. The exhibition space was designed to represent the idea of “being transported”, so as to allow viewers to experience the circulation path of the books after being looted. The artist also aimed at inviting the viewers into her mindset. The exhibition titled Made to be Filled in is not merely the course of Lee retracing the history of the books, but also the sentiment a book lover has towards the cosmos in books.

After having her once obstructed thought organized, Lee had another encounter with a book-war relationship in the Floating Projects gallery — a book called When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning. It is a story set in the Second World War when the American government collected more than 100 million books to bring comfort to the soul of the troops. “Base Libraries” were extensively set up among the frontlines. In every search for clues, there’re often breakthroughs that lead the story to new directions, the Floating Projects gallery was the breakthrough that brought Lee to the Base Library. The idea of transportation itself has signified two meanings, that the books were in reality delivered to different locations, whilst from a more abstract perspective, the artist’s thought was also constantly moving. In Back to the Void exhibition, crates were also used. Its existence was well explained in the artist statement that says, “Crates are the reoccurring objects that serve to load books to different locations.  The delivery passage objects may not always be as expected: the box may be stuck somewhere, or must be pushed into a void for a clear passage.  But the repetitive laborious act is similar to art creation, and both leave some memorable traces.”

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