一場置身邊緣的觀看探險

文∣張禮豪

「那個時候，我們的世界還有許多未知的空白，而且每個空白都如此的誘人。」
──康拉德《黑暗之心》

在數位時代全面來臨以前的地圖製作，是由許多專職描繪的人，盡可能地蒐集了到各地歷險、幸運歸來的旅人口述的種種情報，在點著煤油燈的無數個夜晚，把想像的世界樣貌投影在羊皮或者紙上，並且彌足珍貴地只能提供王公貴族閱覽、使用。但可以肯定的是，無論是根據哪一種描製方法，最終的成果總是會出現失真變形之處。即使到了現在，由人造衛星攝影照片、向量地圖，甚至3D立體鳥瞰等多種方式交疊而成的數位地圖，雖有即時查詢之便，但不僅在某些涉及軍事機密或者特殊狀況的地點刻意隱而不顯，另一方面資料更新的速度也由於整合上的諸多困難，讓號稱最全面的世界地圖始終無法完備，而這些闕漏的塊面也會隨著時空更迭而有所增刪，儼然一個巨大的迷宮，不斷地移轉著最終的出口。

當然，或許很多人都會對於環境一直變化，而隨之感到納悶、困惑，百思不得其解；又或者覺得無奈、遺憾，甚至帶著一絲絲世事無常的惆悵。但對某些人而言，空間是人類心靈感知的體現，充滿了動能與創造性，同時也是抵抗與批判的最佳位置。前述看似充滿諸多不確定性的情況，卻毫不妨礙像是哥倫布（Christopher Columbus，1451-1506）這樣心懷夢想的探險家，縱然明知海象險惡，且盡頭處很可能就是當時水手們謠傳的無窮深淵……還是固執地拿起完全沒有方向指引的地圖，展現朝向地球邊緣前進的大無畏決心。

誠如美國文化評論家貝兒‧胡克斯（bell hooks，她堅持自己的名字小寫）回憶起童年居住的社區，在鐵道的分隔下，劃分出種族與社會階級截然不同的兩個世界，人們由於置身於邊緣空間而產生了想像的力量。她說：「我們同時從外面向內看，以及從裏面朝外看。我們的注意力既擺在邊緣，也放在核心。……這種觀看模式提醒我們整個宇宙的存在，一個由邊緣和核心組成的全體。這種全體的感受藉由我們日常生活的結構，烙印於我們的意識上，提供我們一種對抗性的世界觀。」[1]

因此，此次胡朝聰所推出的「交界迷蹤」一展，或許即可視為其面臨所處時空不斷物換星移的心緒反映。這裡不盡然存在著好壞對錯的主觀價值評斷，而是透過繪畫再造的空間，安靜講述著自己置身於自然與人為的夾縫中所發生的種種生活點滴與個人體驗。例如《遷途》一作，胡朝聰將在藍天上紛飛而去的一群過境侯鳥與即將延伸至海洋的道路二者連結在一起，並且對照原本地貌，帶出了人工物件的逐步滲透是否可能打破自然規律的提問。《觀‧望》一作透過不同視角的聚合，讓具有指涉意義的標誌與線條、綠色圍籬以及分享著相近淡藍色調的海洋與天空並陳於同一畫面當中，挑戰著觀看者的習慣。而《追尋幻境的旅程》一件則藉由鳥瞰鏡頭，描繪出一個四面都由海洋包圍的家屋，屋子前方的柏油路面卻極不尋常地畫上了斑馬線，形成某種疏離的特殊情境。於是，我們可以看到同一地景在不同時間或角度下的疊合壓縮，形塑出既熟悉又陌生的超現實景觀；也可以看到在穿越了橫亙於眼前的大面積人造工程構件，像是畫有斑馬線的柏油道路，或者不斷延伸的高架橋墩之後，陡然出現的綠地或海洋等等，非但予人真假難辨的錯覺，更在在提示著邊緣交界處所蘊藏的無限想像可能。

值得注意的是，在胡朝聰筆下所建構出來的這些空間當中，始終不曾見到人的身影，至此或可更加明白，原來這些作品在本質上其實與我們所認知的地圖並無二異。在這一張張的地圖上，我們得以與自己照會，思索未來可能的行進方向；也有機緣和他人相遇，交換彼此在城市中往返來去的冒險故事，重新勾勒某一塊角落的面貌。一如小說家所描述的，正是存在著未知的空白，才得以召喚人們內心永遠不會得到滿足的探險欲望；也正是在那已知與未知的交界，我們才能夠鼓起勇氣邁開大步，一次又一次地朝向陌生之境前去，甘於迷途且樂此不疲。那麼，就讓我們從現在開始出發吧。

[1] 貝兒胡克斯，王志弘譯，＜選擇邊緣作為基進開放的空間＞，收入顧燕翎、鄭至慧主編，《女性主義經典》（台北：女書，1999），360-361 頁。


An Adventure of Seeing When One Stands at the Edge

Written by Chang Li-Hao

“At that time there were many blank spaces on the earth, and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map (but they all look that) I would put my finger on it and say, 'When I grow up I will go there.'…”
── Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness.

Before the digital age, map was made by professional cartographer, who tried every possible way to collect informations from travelers who had survived the adventurous journeys. In so many nights, they lit an oil lamp to project the world they imagined on parchment or paper. These maps were so precious that they were only offered to the royal family. However, there is one thing for sure. No matter how the cartography is created, the final result will not be exactly the same with the reality. The digital map nowadays which is created with the help of satellite imagery, vector map, or three-dimensional birdview imagery offers us the convenience of easy access, but some spots will be left as blanks if they are related to military secrets or any other special conditions. Additionally, the limitation of data-updating makes it very difficult to integrate all the informations. It is why the so-called “map of the whole world” can never be completed. The missing parts either increase or decrease with the passing of time as if it were a giant maze which keeps switching the final exit.

Indeed, many people might feel puzzled and confused about the continuously changing environment. Some might even feel helpless or regretful about it – a sense of melancholy about the ephemerality. However, for some people, space is the embodiment of human’s psychological perception. It is full of dynamics and creativity while it occupies the best defense position. The uncertainties mentioned above never stopped a great ambitious dreamer and adventurer like Christopher Columbus (1451-1506). He sailed to the unknown danger of the vast sea. According to the rumor among sailors, he might fall from the edge of the sea… In spite of the risk, he stubbornly took up a map without any direction, determinedly setting off to the edge of the world.

As how bell hooks (it is her preferred capitalization), an American culture critic, memorizes the community where she has lived when she was a child. There was a railroad separating the two worlds of totally different ethnicities and social classes. As people stayed in a marginalized space, they were given the power of imagination. She says that “We looked from both the outside in and the inside out. We focused our attention on the center as well as the margin... This mode of seeing reminded us of the existence of a whole universe, a main body made up of both margin and center. Our survival depended on an ongoing public awareness of the separation between margin and center and an ongoing private acknowledgement that we were a necessary, vital part of that whole.”[1]

Therefore, Hu Chau-Tsung’s recent solo exhibition Boundary Maze might be regarded as the reflection of his inner emotions about the ephemerality of the surroundings. It is not completely about right-or-wrong/good-or-bad. A subjective judgment does not exist here. Instead, it is a space reconstructed through paintings, quietly narrating its life experiences and daily trivialities as it exists within the gap between nature and an artificial world. Take Migratory Passway for example, Hu connects the migratory birds flying high on the blue sky with the road which is about to extend to the sea. He further compares the image with the original landscape, bringing out a question that whether the gradual intrusion of artificial objects might break down the rules of nature. In Wait and See, the convergence of multiple perspectives allow signifiers – such as signs, lines, the green fence, the sky and the ocean which share the same light blue – to be juxtaposed in the same image, challenging the usual vision of viewers. In A Journey Through Fairyland, the birdview image captures a house surrounded on its four sides by ocean. However, what unusual is that the tarred road in front of the house is painted with a zebra crossing, creating a unique situation of alienation. Therefore, images of the same landscape in different times or angles are juxtaposed together, visualizing a surrealistic scene which is both familiar and yet strange. Meanwhile, the images such as the large-size artificial construction units lying in front of our eyes, the tarred road painted with a zebra crossing, the elevated bridge extended endlessly, or the grassland and the ocean which suddenly appear in the scene all provide an illusion that one can no longer separate it from the reality. It indeed reminds us of the infinite possibilities in a cross-border region.

There is also something to be noted about the absence of humans in the spaces constructed by Hu Chau-Tsung. It makes us clearly understand that the essence of these artworks is not different from the maps we know. In these maps, we see ourselves and carefully think about the future path. Sometimes, destiny brings us to the others, allowing us a chance to exchange the adventurous stories from one city to another. It is how we picture a corner of this world. As described by the novelist, it is the “blank spaces on the earth” evoking the unfulfilled desire for adventure which is buried inside our hearts. It is also the border between the world we know and the world unknown that brings us courage to step forward to the unknown land. We are willing to get lost, and we find pleasure in all the troubles. So, let us set off.

[1] bell hooks, trans. Wang Chih-hung, “Choosing the Margin as a Space of Radical Openness,” Feminism Classics, edited by Ku Yenlin and Cheng Chih-Hui (Taipei: Fembooks Publishing House, 1999), p. 360-361.