20140106

李家昇 {遊動詩寫室}MOBILE POETRY LAB Photo-based work by Lee Ka-sing

李家昇 {遊動詩寫室}
相遇,記事,追憶,散聚。攝影長短句

展期:2014年1月10日至2月15日,時間下午1時至7時 (1/30-2/3/2014、 星期日、公眾假期休息)
地點:私畫廊(九龍石硤尾白田街賽馬會創意藝術中心5樓22室)

對談 : 2014年1月11日 3:00-500pm
地點:光影作坊(九龍石硤尾白田街賽馬會創意藝術中心2樓10室)
講者 : 李志芳、李家昇、劉清平、謝明莊

開幕 : 2014年1月11日 5:00-700pm

查詢 : 陳小姐 23720681


MOBILE POETRY LAB
Photo-based work by Lee Ka-sing


Date : 10 January to 15 February 2014 1:00pm-7:00pmClosed on 1/30-2/3, Sunday, Public Holidays

Venue : Gallery Z (L522 JCCAC, 30 Pak Tin Street, Shek Kip Mei, Kowloon)

Artists Talk : 1/11/2014 3:00-5:00pm
Speakers : Patrick Lee, Lee Ka-sing, Lau Ching-ping, Tse Ming-chong
Location : Lumenvisum L2-10 JCCAC

Opening Reception : 1/11/2014 5:00-7:00pm
Lee Ka-sing will be present in the opening

Enquiry : Ms Chan 23720681



李家昇回港在我的畫廊做一個小展覽,同時間李志芳亦在石硤尾創意藝術中心二樓「光影作坊」舉行攝影展;詳見李家昇下面的文字。

李家昇的作品亦會在一月九日《回看也斯》回顧展、在香港中央圖書館及中環藝穗會展出。

與其說1月11日在「光影作坊」因應兩個展覽舉行四人對談,倒不如說是聚合各位朋友一同慢話攝影。

下面轉載自《李家昇交換眼神博客》的《影像與文字的瓜葛》作為展覽前言,並附上英譯本;

2013年12月13日星期五


影像與文字的瓜葛       李家昇        


(2014年一月初會回港一行探望父親。由於上一回答應了劉清平,再回港的機會就在他畫廊做個小展覽。以下的文字是為是個展覽細說而寫,有些內容已在以前的一些文章談過,這裡作個梳理。)


本來是想說影像與文字的探索,倒不如說是瓜葛較直接了。

瓜葛是感情的問題。我原是一個文字人,後來開始了攝影,漸漸也較少使用文字作為創作媒體。我的攝影,不少都在觀念上採用了拼疊的方式,我答來問的人說 - 我的攝影是受過往的文字生活影響。所說的影響大抵都是說寫詩的方面,意象的重疊,非定點透視等等。

近年閱讀的方式有點改變,可能也因此間接地影響著我的影像與文字感情。這幾年間我的兩個主要的攝影系列都與文字有著較直接的關係。其一是「Z FICTION」(我譯作Z域小說集),是一項虛構敘事性的照片。在創作圖像過程中把故事構成,圖像完成後再寫下一小段文字。文字是影像作進一步的追加,亦為作品的一部份。每張照片均為獨立個體。另外一個作品系列是「游動詩寫室」。也即是今次所展出的東西。

游動詩寫室系列於2011年開始創作。已是多年沒有寫詩了,一天忽然有個想法,不如以圖像代替文字,但採文字的鋪陳方式。這照片詩也如是地分行,一段去到另一段。第一個作品是「二零一一年一月路過東京訪故友不遇」。如果說影像代入文字不好理解,假想一個音樂創作人用音樂去寫了一首詩就比較明確了。其實每一篇樂章都可以理解成為一首詩的創作。正因為媒體的不同,所給出的訊息就有層次上的差異。文字具體準確,音符抽象,影像大概是以上兩者之間罷。

2012年,有天我又生發奇想,不如把這些照片詩轉換成為文字版本。所謂轉換,也即是說在一些設定範圍下用文字寫一首詩。設定範圍例如行數既定,題目不能更改等。轉了一圈,又拿了文字人的身份。

細想,如果不是先有圖像版的文字本又會怎樣?那走向一定會不同,創作時心理狀態弧度有別也。

系列中也不是每片圖像詩都具文字版本。試想兩種媒體各有特色,文字準確,影像具像但有較不同的想像域場。既然坐擁二城,釋放多少那就要看環境需要而定了。游動詩寫室後來還開了一個分枝,我做了一些三聯式的「圖本俳句」。主要都是讀書筆記,記敘與友人聚會等。

Z FICTION是虛擬故事的敘述,游動詩寫室比較是記事而寫之作。也許這是其中較明顯的分野。你聽到一片音樂,有個遠方的朋友來探你,你覺得光拍一張紀錄的照片不能記錄下那個較繁複層疊的瞬間。這也即是該個系列的起因。

這個極小型的展覽,無寧說是與香港朋友一個交談罷。我帶來了幾件作品,看題目也可呼應到我前面提到的所謂記事:「在畫廊聽紫禁城室樂團。月前在廣州書店所得該團兩枚CD其一」,「六月二日友人謝至德來訪兼贈其攝影冊天皇天后。試論攝影書寫」,「看楚喬近作貓爪文想寫給她一首情詩」,「為恐龍拍攝一幀彩色照片的心路歷程」。

游動詩寫室原是以小本圖像木塊散點疏排而組成。這一回,部份作品我嘗試把圖像並連在一起,有的也做了較大面積的版本。展示方式發展了一些變化。

李志芳知道我在清平策劃的畫廊展覽,他也想同一時間在該地點做個展覽助興。在同一個建築物,謝明莊策劃的「光影作坊」舉行。既然是交談,多一把朋友的聲音就立體得多一個角度。我也在他的展場放了一件作品,雖然不算是一則對話。「在李志芳多倫多攝影展覽場中聽吳門琴韻」,2013年五月,李志芳來多倫多我的畫廊做了一個展覽,以上的便是因此而作。也揭開另一個層次。

游動詩寫室展覽在香港舉行的時候,剛是也斯逝世一周年,在中央圖書館有一較大規模的藝術品展覽,展出百多件來自不同藝術家以也斯的詩而成的創作。我應邀做了兩件新的圖像詩放在該展覽:「回家途中。在航機艙中窗外遠眺。其一及其二 (重讀也斯25年前寫的兩首詩 -"家破","家具")」。香港藝穗會同時期也舉辦了一項紀念也斯的活動,朋友及藝術工作者紀念也斯而發的創作。也斯離世後我做了一首圖像詩:「念也斯」(文字版本曾發表在「香港文學」)。是個作品也會在藝穗會展出。這些不同碎片片斷組合起來,算是游動詩寫室這回在港互相串連著幾個空間的交談對答。也是瓜葛罷。2014年二月我打算在多倫多Gallery50,把「游動詩寫室」系列做一個較全面的展覽,這回算是一個熱身。


The complicated relation between image and word

I wanted to talk about the exploration of images and words, or, more directly, the complicated relation among the two.

Complicated relation is a matter of emotion. I was, basically, a writer, but then I started to use words less to create since I began to do photography. My photography usually employs different overlapping concepts, thus I answered those who asked, my photography is influenced by the way I lived with words in the past. Such influence is mostly brought by poem-writing, overlapping imagery and multipoint perspective etc.

 In recent years, the way of reading has changed. This probably affected my emotion about images and words indirectly. The two major photography series that I have done in these few years both have a more direct relation with words. "Z FICTION" is one of the two; it is a series of photographs which is fictionally narrative. The story was constructed during the process of creating the images, and a short paragraph was then appended. The text is an extension and also a part of the image. Each photograph is an independent entity. "MOBILE POETRY LAB" is the other one of the two, it is now on exhibition.

 The "MOBILE POETRY LAB" series was put into progress since 2011. Haven't been writing poems for many years and one day this idea suddenly came into my mind – why not replace words with images but retain the way of arrangement of words? Such “photo-poem” is also arranged line by line, verse by verse, like the traditional poem. The first work is "In January, 2011 passed by Tokyo to visit an old friend. He was away". If substituting words with images is hardly intelligible, then try to imagine a composer writing a poem with music. Every piece of music can indeed be understood as a creation of poem. Because of the difference of the media used, the messages conveyed are thus different in dimension. Words are concrete and precise, musical notes are abstract, and images are probably between these two.

 In 2012, another idea came into my mind – why not translate these photo-poems into words? This means to write poems with words within a planned area, for example planned number of lines, and unchangeable topic etc. After all, I am a writer again.

What if the image version of the text did not come first? The direction must be different; the mental state during the process of creating would also be altered.

 In this series, not every photo-poem has its textual counterpart. Besides, try to imagine that the two media have their own characteristics – words are precise while images are representational and they provide different rooms for imagination. With the two media in hands, how much is emancipated depends on the environment. "MOBILE POETRY LAB" has opened a new branch later on. I made some three-jointed style "imagery Haiku". They were mainly my notes from reading, and records of gathering with friends etc.

“Z FICTION” is a narrative of a fictional story, while “MOBILE POETRY LAB” is more of a record of events. This is perhaps the more obvious distinction between the two. When you hear a piece of music and a friend coming from afar to visit you, you may find a straight photograph insufficient to capture that complicated and overlapping moment. This is also the birth of this series.

I would rather call this tiny exhibition a conversation with my Hong Kong friends. I have brought a few works with me and you can see what I had mentioned about the so-called “record of events” from the titles. Such as “Listening to one of the two CDs by Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra, purchased in a short trip to Guangzhou early this year”,  “Tse Chi Tak visited on June 2nd. He gave us his book "KING HEAVEN AND EARTH QUEEN". Here is somehow, a poem on Hong Kong photography”, “A love poem for Holly, after her new work - CLAW SCRIPT”, “The Psychological Journey while Taking a Colour Photograph of a Dinosaur”.

“MOBILE POETRY LAB” was originally composed of scattered small wooden blocks with pictures on them. I tried to connect the pictures and made a larger version for some. There are some changes on the way of presenting.

Patrick Lee knew that I was exhibiting at the gallery planned by Lau Ching-ping, and he wanted to respond. Located in the same building, Lumenvisum, where Tse Ming-chong is the curator. A conversation with one more voice from a friend became more 3-dimensional with one more perspective. I have also put a work in his exhibition even though that could not be counted as a conversation. “Listening to Wu Zhaoji's Qin music at Patrick Lee's exhibition in Toronto” – this was written in May 2013 when Patrick Lee was having an exhibition in my gallery in Toronto. It also revealed another dimension.

It was exactly one year after the death of Leung Ping-kwan when “MOBILE POETRY LAB” was exhibiting in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong Central Library, there was a rather large-scale art exhibition which exhibited more than a hundred artworks created by different artists in accordance with Leung's poems. I, on invitation, created two photo-poems for that exhibition. They were “On the way home. Staring far through the window of an air cabin. One and Two (rereading the two poems –  ‘Home-break’ and ‘Home-furniture’ – written by Leung 25 years ago)”. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Fringe Club was also holding a commemoration for Leung in the same period of time. It exhibited the works by Leung’s friends and arts practitioners who missed him. I wrote a photo-poem after Leung’s death, it is called “In Memory of PK” (the text version was published in “Hong Kong Literary”). It was also exhibited at the Fringe Club. All these bits and pieces of “MOBILE POETRY LAB” altogether constructed the dialogue which connects different spaces in Hong Kong. It is also a complicated relation. I have planned to hold a larger exhibition of the “MOBILE POETRY LAB” series at Gallery50 in Toronto in February 2014. This time can be considered a warm-up for it.

Translated by Man Hoi Yin