Before Rain After 未雨後

Before Rain After, 2013
Two-channel video installation with a well, daily containers and window frames

Dimension variable

installation view: http://vimeo.com/68249516, 1min50s
Before Rain After/ well: http://vimeo.com/74417174, 7min9s

In a developed city, everyone is always going somewhere, from point to point. Our surroundings are regarded as merely a backdrop to our journeys. Who really ever notices their surroundings and experiences that they encounter along the way?

Part of the artist’s plan is to film the puddles on the road from his house to the Oil Street Art Space after it has rained during the day. The images in the water on his route are constantly changing, reflecting here the countryside, there a low-angle view of the city looking up into the sky. As if seen from the bottom of a well, they create a mirage that represents the absurd relationship between truth and illusion.

When it started to rain after a long drought, back in the time when there were no reservoirs, people would place outside in the rain any utensil they could find to catch the life-giving liquid. When the water ran out before the rain came, they set out again on the hunt for new supplies.

Another part of the plan is to scour the streets and shops around Oil Street and collect utensils that can contain water. When it starts raining, these containers will be placed on the lawn at the Art Space to catch water. The collection of rain water and the process of boiling it until it all evaporates will be recorded on video. These household utensils are evidence of the modern city, and the act of returning the water to the atmosphere is a kind of mutually contradictory worship of nature intended as a means to salvation.

Man encompasses nature and nature, in its degraded form, encompasses man. The dislocated visual effects that are created in the installation are a criticism of man’s praise of morbid beauty.

每當人朝著明確的地方行進，從點到點的過程裡，周遭的相遇僅是時間的過渡，誰又會注視到周遭與自身共構的經歷？

整個計劃以錄像記錄一天下雨過後，從居所附近的溪澗至油街藝術空間的路途上所拍攝的水窪，並將畫面「放置」在水井裡，從井底「倒映」由鄉郊走進都市時如同仰望天空的轉變。井中幻影，鏡花水月，恰似是真實與虛幻之間的荒謬劇。

古時若沒有水井供水，每逢久旱後下雨，人們便拿出家裡所有能盛水的物件與絕活擺滿一地；當水用盡，未及下雨，人為了生存，只好又獵奇般搜索來尋找水源。

計劃另一部分則從平日及展場附近的街道、店鋪等搜羅盛水容器，在雨天時放置在藝術空間的草地上收集雨水，再把雨水加熱蒸發，並以錄像再呈現這循環的過程。日常物品作為現代都市的反映，透過如同把水回贈天上的行徑，就像形成自相矛盾的敬拜以求得到心靈上的救贖。

人類包裹自然，變質的自然也包裹人類，耳聞目睹失落的雨水殘留遍地，只能歇力捕捉土地凹陷處所懷抱的天上物，並以火焰將它燒盡。錯置與經營的視覺效果在批判著人崇尚的病態美。