western beef, eastern chicken, we know the neighborhood

這個名稱的來由源於 2010年六、七月在紐約的駐村期間，在布魯克林（ Brooklyn）與皇后區（Queens）行政區劃分交界處，追溯並拍攝工作室近郊的麥斯佩斯溪（MaspethCreek）。我以當地一間以肉品量販聞名的大型超市「西部牛肉」（ Western Beef）的商標口號（ slogan）「 我們所知的鄰里 」（ We Know the Neighborhood），作為我作品的名稱和發想引述的題材。這間超市正緊臨麥斯佩斯溪的支線之一，而環繞在這人工溪流的旁邊，皆是巨型原物料所在的地景，我把這條溪流作為旅行溯源的路線，拜訪各支流水域停滯僵固之處，如同拓荒者對山澗泉流發 源處的嚮往，並在不同時間利用攝影「臨摹」現場，以此提出未來觀者對影像的想像與拍攝者在現場真實所「見」之間所可能產生的誤差。

另一方面，這一帶被美名為「威廉茲堡產業園區」（ Williamsburg Industry Park），在當代消費與工業生產體系運作之下， 麥斯佩斯溪的地景反應的其實是污染源的「座標」與「指數」。除了當地產 業相關工作者外，相對於我的旅遊路徑所認識的「我所知的鄰里」，是充滿反諷、被消費所遮蓋的生活環境倫理。

「東部雞肉─我們所知的鄰里」的發想，受邀於立方計畫空間（TheCube project space）的合作計畫， 我以「西部牛肉」作為源起， 以「東部」作為暗喻遠東的辭彙，並選擇家禽類的「雞肉」作為同樣引發我即將認識的鄰里內容。以立方計畫空間作為開展的基地、台北公館地區販售雞肉的商家作為第一階段的線索，朝向引發販售者、展演空間與藝術家生產共同對「鄰里的認識」。在九月五日至九月三十日之間，以展出「西部牛肉」的部份影像作為起始，並將空間運用為臨時的工作平台，將此過程呈現於現場，提供「正在發展」與「對話」的展演機能。
The title of this work is derived from my residency in New York in June and July 2010, during which I photographed the Maspeth Creek in the suburbs where my studio was at the boundary between the Brooklyn and Queens boroughs. I used the slogan of a large supermarket Western Beef famous for its meat products, “We Know the Neighbourhood”, as the title of my work and my inspiration. This supermarket adjoins one of the tributaries of Maspeth Creek. The areas around this artificial creek are the sites where huge supplies of raw materials are stored. I followed this creek and visited the spots where the water was stagnant along its tributaries, just like a pioneer looking for the source of a mountain spring. Using photography to “copy” the sites at different hours, I tried to highlight the possible gap between how future viewers imagine the images and what was really “seen” at the sites by the photographer.

The area is euphemistically known as the “Williamsburg Industry Park”. In the context of contemporary consumerism and industrial production system, the landscape of Maspeth Creek shows the “coordinates” and “level” of pollution. The neighbourhood I know from the route that I travelled is full of irony, where environmental ethics is taken over by consumerism.

The concept of “Eastern Chicken – We Know the Neighbourhood” originated from a collaboration with TheCube Project Space. Taking inspiration from the name “Western Beef”, I use “Eastern” to suggest the Far East, and “chicken” as the theme of the neighbourhood that I am going to explore. With TheCube Project Space as the base of development, I identify the shops selling chicken meat in the Gong Guan district of Taipei as the first stage of my exploration, in order to stimulate a joint discovery of the neighbourhood by the shops, the exhibition space and the artist. From September 5 to 30, I will show some images of “Western Beef”, while using the space as a temporary work platform to showcase the process, providing a work in progress and starting a dialogue.