新苑藝術：【_____之間的距離】鄭亭亭個展

「_____之間的距離」為藝術家鄭亭亭繼2011 年於臺北市立美術館「物件奇想」後，在台灣的第二個個展。該展覽包含她去年於德國柏林以及越南胡志明市駐村時的創作。延續她一貫對於外來者與在地者之間關係與互動的探討，在「沒關係，你可以跟我說」裡，她以接收訊息者的身分，凸顯外來者與在地者之間，語言不同所形成的距離，而在「在你和你以為你知道的地方之間」中，她藉由傳遞的混雜的訊號，試圖發掘印象及真實之間的距離，進而討論人對於國家/城市的認知從何而來？

「在你和你以為你知道的地方之間」是鄭亭亭於胡志明市Zero Station駐村時，與當地藝術家La Huy合作下的作品。在該計畫中，鄭亭亭利用自己以及當地朋友所拍攝的影像製作了一套明信片，明信片的背面有著兩種不同的語言 – 越文以及英文，但有別於傳統的明信片，這兩個語言並不是彼此的翻譯，語言的隔閡，在這裡代表現實生活中人們在接收資訊時，被語言所過濾的過程。除了明信片之外，鄭亭亭同時展出她從ebay以及奇摩拍賣，搜尋 “Vietnam / 越南”所出現的商品，包括旅遊書藉、遊戲光碟、明信片等等，反映出外來者對該國家所形成印象的來源以及反應。

而房間裡的「沒關係你可以跟我說」 是鄭亭亭於柏林GlogauAIR駐村時的創作。語言隔閡，這個長期出現在她作品中的議題，這邊又再度被討論。在長時間困擾於不同國家的語言隔閡之下，她思考，有什麼辦法可以將這個隔閡轉化成正面的力量？於是，在駐村期間，她在柏林的街頭牆面上張貼小廣告，徵求當地居民，以他們的母語 – 德文，跟藝術家訴說一個自己的祕密。

最後，連結兩個作品的是「Kunst (this is what we do)」。它同時也是鄭亭亭於柏林駐村時的創作。該系列延續她在先前作品「非志願性讀者」中，對於免費資訊流通的探討，這些資訊是怎麼傳達到我們手中、我們如何接受、它們又為何存在？Kunst是德文 “藝術” 的意思。她收集柏林藝術相關的傳單資訊，以非尋常的方式歸類整理，像是大小、郵遞區號、顏色、字母順序等等，試圖在柏林這個藝術被高度渲染及過度重視的城市中，顛覆一般大眾對於分類的定義以及思考的邏輯，並質疑藝術與大眾之間的關係、其對於社會的貢獻以及所運行的方程式。

藉由本次的展覽，她將兩個距離9300公里的城市並列於此，而在這兩個城市之間，台灣的位置在哪裡？距離又是什麼（多少）？

上述於越南胡志明市的駐村計畫，是受奧賽德工廠之邀，與Zero Station所進行的「南國．國南－ 台越藝術家交流計畫」之一，感謝丹麥文化發展及交換基金、國家文化藝術基金會、台南市政府文化局以及中華民國外交部贊助。上述於德國柏林的駐村計畫，是受Idolon Studio之邀，與GlogauAIR所進行之合作駐村計畫，感謝國家文化藝術基金會贊助。
 

Distance in between is the artist Ting-Ting Cheng’s second solo show in Taiwan, after Object Fantasy at Taipei Fine Art Museum in 2011. The exhibition includes three projects made during her artist in residency in Berlin and Ho Chi Minh City last year. Continuing her interest in relationship and interaction between outsiders and insiders of a city, “It’s fine, you can talk to me” embodied the language distance between foreigners and local residents. And in “Between you and the place you believe you thought you knew”, she explored the distance between the impression and the reality, questioning the formation of impression in our perception.

“Between you and the place you believe you thought you knew”, is made during Cheng’s artist in residency at Zero Station in HCMC with local artist La Huy. In the project, Cheng applied images taken by her local friend and herself to make a set of postcards. On the back of the postcards, there are two languages – English and Vietnamese. However, not like traditional postcards, the texts here are not the translations for each other. The gap between the two languages and the texts mirrors the filter of language in the process of receiving information in our society. Apart from the postcards, Cheng also exhibits the archive of objects that she bought from ebay and yahoo auction by searching the word “Vietnam”, projecting the sources of the impression and people’s reaction towards it.

The project inside the room is “It’s fine, you can talk to me”, which was made during Cheng’s artist in residency in GlogauAIR in Berlin. Language barrier, the theme that constantly appeared in her works, here is being discussed again. In the project, she tried to transform the negativity of language barrier into a positive connection. During the residency, she posted advertisements on streets to invite German local residents to tell her a secret in German, the language that she cannot understand.

The photography work that connects the two projects in the gallery is“Kunst (this is what we do)”, which was also realized during her artist in residency in Berlin. Following her interest in free information from her previous project “Involuntary Reader”, here she collected art related information, such as flyers, gallery maps, exhibition information…etc., and then categorized them in an unusual way, including by alphabet, date, postcode, size, with or without the word “kunst”…etc. She intended to explore the relationship between art and the society, questioning the meaning, logic and contribution of art in the city where “art” is overrated and overloaded.

By presenting two cities 9300km away from each other here in Taipei. Cheng asked: Between the cities, where is Taiwan? And what is the distance?

The artist in residency in Zero Station, HCMC, Vietnam, was invited by Outsiders Factory, as part of the “South Country, South of Country – Vietnamese & Taiwanese Artists”. Thank Cultural Development & Exchange Fund (DK), National Culture and Arts Foundation (TW), Cultural Affairs Bureau, Tainan City Government (TW), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan) for the sponsorship. The artist in residency in GlogaAIR, was invited by Idolon studio, as part of the long-term collaboration. Thank National Culture and Arts Foundation (TW) for the sponsorship.