《南喃》
在高度發展的現代化社會，固態的社群瓦解，人穿梭其間、漂泊無定，成為液態化、不斷流動的群體。在其新代稱 --「漂」的語境中，關乎個人歷史、身份的問題被淡忘，取而代之的是多重的自我與地方認同。他們無處安放的迷茫、孤獨和失衡感，藉由短暫的享樂來釋放，就如懸置自身對情感、關係和精神生活的需求，演化成「懸浮」這種新的社會秩序，也折射出「漂」的群體心理上的失序。
香港藝術家王順瑜自小輾轉往返多個城市，累積的「遊牧」經驗使他開始思索這個群體的意識，關照他者的同時也在審視自身。2022年，王順瑜到訪深圳，開展一種接近人類學式的田野調查，追尋「深漂」這群異鄉人的群體記憶、故事，以及他們與這片土地的關係。
王順瑜以對話、速寫、影像紀錄等捕捉群體面貌、情緒和回憶，圖像與文本交織，勾勒出深漂的心靈地景，最終轉化為事實與想像交織的散文《散紀》，與繪畫作品串連成跨媒介的故事敘述。他選擇以無結構的考察、散文式創作，避免宏大敘事掩蓋個體異質性的內在經驗，鋪開錯綜複雜的意義之網。藝術家將深漂的訪談內容進行重構，以虛構人物六六、小潘和阿東的故事呈現深漂擁擠的合租房生活、居無定所的遭遇和迷茫。這些作品剝離於現實空間，在「想像之地」中訴說深漂的內心剖白，隱喻疏離的人地關係和心靈上的無根性。
展覽將展出13組繪畫及軟雕塑作品，配合絹本書《散紀》作為整場電影的劇本，以浮想聯翩的文字而非具象化的影像，將故事完整地呈現。藝術家期望籍微觀的、私人化的深漂經驗作為宏觀社會上離散群體的切面，探索這個「想像共同體」可能存在的共感與共鳴。
「南喃」是來自南方的低喃耳語之聲，如夢囈般訴說似幻似真的故事……
開幕儀式：10月15日（六） 3 - 6 P.M.
展期：10月8日（六）至11月5日（六）
時間：上午 10 時至下午 7 時 （二至六）
地點：香港上環永樂街 172-176 號永富商業大廈 6 樓 602 室
關於藝術家王順瑜
王順瑜，香港藝術家，2018年畢業於香港浸會大學視覺藝術學院，現於中央美術學院攻讀實驗藝術碩士學位。王氏的創作涉足多種媒介，包括繪畫、影像、裝置和行為表演等。他認為，藝術媒介不只是作品的物質性載體，更是一種蘊含隱喻的敘事形式，因而常以柔軟貼膚的絹布作畫，展現曖昧和私密的故事。另外，他也喜愛利用不同媒介的屬性建構繪畫、文字、空間和身體感知的跨媒介敘事。
近年，他轉向社會群體的觀察研究，基於田野調查和口述史蒐集爲靈感進行關於群體認同、邊緣文化和人文空間的藝術創作。其作品如謎題電影般展開非線性、虛實相間、開放式的故事。
Whispers From The South
As modern societies continue to be highly-developed, the breakdown of rigid communities leaves individuals roaming over cities, where a new kind of social group, fluid in nature, has emerged. What the new name “drifter” (piao) implies, is the erasure of personal history and identity, replaced by multiple senses of selves and place identities. The drifters’ hovering bewilderment, isolation and loss of bearing are discharged through seeking short-lived pleasures, as if suspending their desires for sentience, relationships and spiritual life. This kind of suspension becomes a new social order, whilst also a reflection of the “drifters’” psychological state in disarray.
Hong Kong artist Wong Shun Yu has drifted between many cities since a young age. These near nomadic experiences have prompted him to delve into the consciousness of this community, attending to their realities while reflecting on himself. In 2022, the artist visited Shenzhen, where he began an anthropologic-like field study, in the quest of the communal memories and stories of these incomers, as well as their relation with the region.
Wong makes use of dialogues, quick sketches, videographic records etc. to capture the visage of this community, their sentiments and memories. Weaving together pictures and texts, he delineates the psychic landscape of these Shenzhen drifters. The creation is a collection of proses “Collection” where factual and imaginary experiences intertwine. Along with the paintings, the artworks form a multi-media narrative. He chooses to carry out structureless observation and prose-like creative process, to restrain meta-narratives from engulfing the heterogenous inner experiences of individuals, thereby unfolding the complexities of meaning. Reconstructing the interviews, the artist concocts stories of fictional characters Liuliu, Xiaopan and Adong, to present Shenzhen drifters’ encounters and confusions, in their life crammed in shared apartments that have always been temporary. These artworks are displaced from real-life settings, but situated in an imaginary land to express inner thoughts of Shenzhen drifters. It connotes the alienation in man-land relationship and the rootlessness of souls.
Displaying 13 sets of paintings and soft sculptures, together with the prose “Collection” acting as the screenplay, the exhibition makes use of fluid imaginative texts instead of realistic images in presenting a complete story. Through a microscopic view of personalised drifting experiences, Wong wishes to expose a cross-section of the body of drifters in society, and explore the possible resonance among this imagined community.
Whispers from the South is like a somniloquy about stories as tangible as they are imaginary……
OPENING: 8 Oct (Sat) 3 – 6 P.M.
Date: 8 Oct (Sat) – 5 Nov (Sat) Time: 10am – 7pm (TUE – SAT) Venue: 602, 6/F, Winfull Building, 172-176 Wing Lok St. Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
About Wong Shun Yu
Wang Shunyu graduated from the Academy of Visual Arts of Hong Kong Baptist University in 2018 and he is currently studying his master program in the Academy of Experimental Art of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Wang's creation involves different medium, ranging from traditional ink, video installations, texts to performances, etc. And the theme of his creations also involves traditional folk culture, drama, handicrafts and even pop culture and social phenomena. He likes to use interventional performances to explore and exam the different aspects of social phenomena and diversity of human beings. At the same time, he likes to use obscure and indirect pictures and texts to tell different stories. However, the main concerns that always runs through his creation is the representations of experience space.
Wang’s recent creations focus on family relationships and family history, as well as the identity and perception of space involved. He believes that non-textual oral history can truly reflect and complete the ontology of individuals and regions. At the same time, Wang also pays attention to the neglected, marginalized, and niche aesthetic tastes. His creations often present a state of being mixed and free, giving the audience an overall experience.