4. Heterotopias 異域：層疊時空
Michel Foucault’s concept of “heterotopia” denotes the centrality of space, which can also be re-imagined through Deleuze and Guattari’s rhizome whereby point-to-point connectivity within an existential domain needs not follow the orderly layering of time and geographic distribution of space. Heterotopias are spatial entities within which the past, the present and potential future meet to breed new relations, and whereby what is cultural, historical, personal, economic and political are part of one another through endless enactment. On the importance of space, Foucault wrote, “We are at a moment, I believe, when our experience of the world is less that of a long life developing through time than that of a network that connects points and intersects with its own skein.” (Foucault, “Of Other Spaces: Utopias and Heterotopias”) But space and heterotopias (literally pluralistic geographies) are not referring to set places. Heterotopias are there when we recognize them interpretively and narrate them as such.
作為一個空間概念，「異質地域」，或「異托邦」指眾數的世界裡藏著眾數的世界，相互之間如在鏡子裡對照，卻又折射出層層疊疊超越了複製的細節；同一個空間體，卻穿滿密密麻麻的時間斷層。「異托邦」是福柯留給我們的思考空間的立足點，而空間就是（海德格）思考時間經驗和存在的實作的哲理座標。「異托邦」是論述的空間、網絡的空間、社會的空間、思維的空間，效率操控的空間…，卻絕對不是單一、單向的空間。福柯（1954-84年間）談的空間是「被組織的空間」、「活出來的空間」，而「異托邦」正是對理想空間「烏托邦」（及其恐怖的反面）的拒絕。他說：「我相信我們正處於的時刻，是我們對世界的經驗並不那麼在於穿越時間而發展出長長的人生，反而是人生的點和交叉點與它們連成的絞所合成的網絡的出現。」空間性的網絡比線性的時間重要。反過來，空間的實體往往經歷各式各樣的人為有意或偶然的歷史的變動。
JUROR'S SPECIAL MENTION
評審特别表揚
- Virtual body, Computer animation, Shell body, Machinima, Cyber love
- 虛擬身體, 電腦動畫, 殼層身體, 機造影片, 網路愛情
Jurors’ notes:
[Juror’s Special Mention: WONG Fei-pang]
I would not say that it was just a virtual kiss.
It is a kiss between reality and another reality.
The description in the work is like a beautiful poem, small and moving.
The internet world and things that happen there are just another reality to me. The camera migrates into that world, moving slowly, through the body and the spirit.
Whether the story is possible is not important to me at all; on the contrary, the work is empowering in terms of making body and spirit connected, which is something I care about more than the actual world.
The images take me into that night, an unforgettable night.
I also had the experience of being a gamer in that game (World of Warcraft). (Hoi Wong)
Does the making of this work or the recreated experience require a certain level of hacking into the original game engine? (Linda Lai)
JUROR'S SPECIAL MENTION
評審特别表揚
- Memory, Chang’e, Goddess, Matrilineal, Autumn Moon Festival
- 記憶, 嫦娥 , 女神, 母系的, 中秋節
Cinematography, Editing: Dyan Jong
Music Composer, Narration: Lucy Yao
Poet: Nancy Huang
Lucy Yao is trained as a pianist, teacher, and composer. By redefining grief as a source for uncovering and discovery, her work is created with an urgency to preserve memory and to illuminate joys hidden in everyday sounds. Lucy has held positions at New York University, Interlochen Center for the Arts, the University of Michigan, and the Manhattan School of Music.
Nancy Huang grew up in America and China. She is a VONA, Tin House, Watering Hole, and Pink Door fellow. Her writing revolves around pain, memory, and trustworthiness. Her debut poetry collection, Favorite Daughter, is out of print. She has an MFA from NYU.
WEBSITE 創作者網址
http://www.dyanjong.com
https://lucy-yao.com/
https://nancyjhuang.com/
Jurors’ notes:
[Juror’s Special Mention: Linda Lai]
I like this work because I like fairy tales, a rich domain of cultural politics. This work has a clear structure; it is procedural in unfolding the oral power of passing on folk legends without being nostalgic. The “re-telling” of the same legend, to me, is not so much above evolutionary progress through the generations, but more about the embeddedness of the act of story-telling in its milieu. The work makes me wonder, too, what is the obsession to (re-)tell folk legends about, and why are we obsessed with story-telling in general? What would be a feminist understanding of this? My only discontent is that the VO is too fast, and could have been better considered as a voice performance. (Even a casual VO should be casual because it is intended and the best strategy.) My Special Mention goes to this work also because it is the collaborate effort of a group of women.
I like the work and also give it extra points because the creators made their own music, and the somewhat messy collage is impactful. Yet, I am hesitant about the narrative approach. (WONG Fei-pang)
- Essay
- 文章
Working across different mediums, Tan's practice draws insights from literary and philosophical sources and the everyday environment to explore the existential, cultural and political response of individuals, including her own, to our heterogeneous society. Her diverse subjects addressed a plurality of inquiries; love, creativity, freedom, mortality and corporeality. Working mostly with video format at present, she documents and locates these social shifts of our everyday existence, moods and transitory states. Her work captures a sense of impermanence and traces emotions, translating a human experience grounded in tension, ineffability and the constant state of flux.
Jurors’ notes:
This work takes advantage of found footage with polished images from advertisements and public services announcements. There are points when certain elements are explicitly repeated to call our attention. This approach is very visible, whether when applied to well formed imaginary or to very sketchy visuals… I am not entirely sure if the interviews, for example those with the elderly or about them, are well integrated into the piece. I feel the work attracts us with lots of eye-candy images and here and there it feels obliged to insert a criticism. But what is the analysis? I also could not help wondering whether the essayist is a Singaporean or not. (Linda Lai)
The repetition used here is quite important to this work. (Hoi Wong)
I think at one point, the creator reached a point where she is left with no choice… Those are the images one finds in the everyday landscape of Singapore. (WONG Fei-pang)
- Multimedia, Virtual opera, Pandemic opera, In the midst of…
- 多媒體, 虛擬歌劇, 疫症歌劇 , 《在...之中》
His compositions cover a broad spectrum, ranging from instrumental to scores for large-scale multimedia productions. His works have been performed around the world such as Vienna, Mexico, Macau and Shenzhen. In 2016, his Fragment was selected by Ablaze Records for the inclusion of the SINFONIA Series CD album. Later in 2016 and 2017, his Gather and Scatter and The Walled City for Chinese orchestra was premiered and performed by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra in their “Music from the Heart” concerts. His Clamor for saxophone octet won third prize in the New Generation 2016 contest organized by the Hong Kong Composers’ Guild and RTHK. Cheng’s Fission for flute, clarinet and piano was premiered at the Hong Kong Vienna Music Festival in Vienna. His electronic music, Time and Earth, was selected and broadcast by MUSLAB. He was also appointed as the commissioned composer by Musicus Society in 2016.
Cheng is also a pianist and overtone singer. He was awarded a FTCL diploma in piano recital in 2016 and one of the winners of RTHK Young Music Makers 2017 with his overtone singing. He was the artistic director and composer of the first Academy Festival: School of Music multimedia production, “The Cityscape,” which was also awarded the Academy School of Music prize for “The best interdisciplinary project 2016-2017.” In 2018, he became the artistic director and composer of “The Cityscape II.”
Jurors’ notes:
My reception is related to my personal experience of being in a band and playing music together. It has been a long time since I last went to a concert and therefore I feel truly happy watching this video. I think what makes music good is the concept of “sharing” and being part of a strong bonding community, which is what I have truly missed. And yet it is also very sad that such an activity had to happen on Zoom video conferencing. (Winnie Yan)
It reminds me of my experience of once being involved in a karaoke party … I like the playfulness of the video which is beyond normal documentation. It’s good to make fun. (WONG Fei-pang)
I am more keen on the slight absurdity in this video, it’s the effort and drive to cope with COVID-19 that makes the video delightful. (John Chow)
In this particular Zoom-video event, I can feel the sense of togetherness much stronger than some similar submissions in previous issues. (Hoi Wong)
I want this video to stay in the zine. Still, I wish the event wouldn’t have to continue on Zoom any more. The video event is well organized and structured methodically. (Linda Lai)