蝸牛樂園三部曲－啟航或終章（影片版） Snail Paradise Trilogy: Setting Sail or Final Chapter (video)

影像截圖 Screenshots

2021, 單頻道彩色影片 14分35秒

2021,  video 14 "35'

台灣原住民族沒有文字，以口傳故事來延續歷史；而非洲的歌里謳 (Griot) 是保持口述歷史傳統的吟遊史官。從人類起源於非洲學說的想像開啟，以部落有個歌里謳的概念，使用排灣族祈雨古調，吟唱非洲大蝸牛的大航海故事，也是對陌生又相似的文化的致敬。

Taiwan's indigenous peoples have no written language; they pass down their history through oral storytelling. In Africa, the Griot serves as the bard who maintains the tradition of oral history. Inspired by the theory of human origins in Africa and the concept of a tribe having a Griot, we use the ancient Paiwan rain-praying melody to sing the maritime story of the African giant snail. This is a tribute to both unfamiliar yet similar cultures.

蝸牛樂園三部曲－啟航或終章 Snail Paradise Trilogy: Setting Sail or Final Chapter

高雄市立美術館提供，攝影林宏龍 Courtesy of the KMFA

2021, 花船彩繪 50x100x400cm，單頻道彩色影片 14分35秒，刺繡含框16cmx16cmx2cmX9組。展出於2021年《泛．南．島藝術祭》，高雄市立美術館。2021, Flower boat painting 50x100x400cm, video 14 "35', embroidery with frame 16cmx16cmx2cmX9 sets. At 2021 "Pan-Austro-Nesian Arts Festival", Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Ars.

英國植物學家約瑟夫．班克斯爵士（Sir Joseph Banks，1743-1820）隨著庫克船長展開殖民探勘的冒險旅程，每趟歸國都帶回豐碩採集成果，成就皇家植物園的奇遊景觀。大航海時代開啟了各地物種的大交換，也造就疾病與生存競爭的紛擾。原生於東非的非洲大蝸牛隨著洋流擴展，成為世界百大入侵物種；回溯牠的散播途徑，恰似帝國擴張的路徑；1933年日本殖民政府官員從新加坡引進臺灣發展食用養殖，牠難以處理的黏液，台灣原生種構樹的葉子卻能輕易去除，而構樹是科學家以它的基因佐證台灣是南島語族的起源，南島語系最西的馬達加斯加又鄰近東非－非洲大蝸牛的起源地。這來來回回的交錯在歷史疊層裡，再從族人的蝸牛料理相關的食材植物們，感受到錯綜複雜的交流網絡，將一路認識的它們轉為刺繡圖騰，試圖留下給未來的「傳統」採樣。我想攜帶與蝸牛料理相關植物的圖案，像是要去為蝸牛尋根，航向「人類起源非洲說」的想像去吟唱。

With Captain Cook, Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820) embarked on a colonial exploration adventure, bringing back fruitful collections on each return trip and making the Royal Botanic Gardens a wondrous sight. The age of great voyages opened up a great exchange of species from all over the world, but also created the disturbance of disease and competition for survival. The African snail, native to East Africa, expanded with ocean currents and became one of the top 100 invasive species in the world; its dispersal path was similar to the path of imperial expansion; in 1933, Japanese colonial government officials introduced it from Singapore to Taiwan to develop food farming, and its difficult to handle mucus was easily removed by the leaves of Taiwan's native species, the structural tree, and scientists used its genes to prove that Taiwan is the origin of the South Island language group, and the South Island The westernmost part of the South Island language family, Madagascar, is near the origin of the East African snails. In this back-and-forth history, we can feel the intricate network of communication through the snail cooking-related ingredients and plants of the tribe, and turn them into embroidery totems, trying to leave a sample of "tradition" for the future. I want to carry the patterns of plants related to snail cuisine, as if I were going to search for the roots of snails and sing to the imagination of the "African origin of mankind".

高雄市立美術館提供 Courtesy of the KMFA