TRANSLATION | Eugenia Yang
Human emotion is a complicated matter that is difficult to express and decipher. Chinese-American writer Bei Dao once compared life to webs and described time as a web weaver, braiding our emotions, memories, aspirations, and regrets into a forever expanding net that has no end. This concept aligns perfectly with Japanese installation artist Chiharu Shiota’s artworks. So what is the most moving about Chihara Shiota’s art? In the eyes of critics, it is her amazing ability to see the intangible and visualize them through concrete installations.
去向何方？
「人如果死了，就意味著他不再存在於這個世界，但因他而有的情感、記憶，這些看不到的東西卻依然存在著。」或許在生死、記憶、存在，被具象化的震撼中，對於普通觀賞者來說，塩田千春的作品不需要去深度了解，因為懂與不懂只停留在知識層面，它並不影響你思想、感知的延展性，用白色絲線編織成的船靜靜懸掛於天花板，儘管充滿了對未知的不安，但船終將啓程，堅定地駛向遠方。在她的作品中常以獨特、視覺性極強的畫面去吸引觀者的眼球，當表現記憶或是憂愁、不安的情感時，塩田千春採用的是紅線；而當面對恐懼時，線就變成了黑色，通過作品中的一些小的元素去傾訴或聆聽觀者的感思。
顫動的靈魂
不存在中的存在，是塩田千春大部分作品中的主題。幾年的籌備中，塩田千春一邊與死神抗爭，一邊將自己的抗癌經歷融入創作。對於死亡的恐懼並沒有擊退她的創作意念，只剩下骨架的船，在紅線的帶領下引出了一段《不確定的旅程》，這也是藝術展的開始。大量的紅線發出炫目奪人的光芒，好像有什麼力量正從船中噴湧而出，在觀賞藝術作品裡找到一種叫「同感」的東西，它也許是我們窺探這個萬般複雜世界的捷徑，塩田千春說，希望參觀者能借此感受到活著的意義、人生的旅途與靈魂的微妙。她把鑰匙、書信、病床、連衣裙、鞋子、行李箱，這些承載人生記憶的物件，用線串聯起來，就像在空氣中畫畫，表達傷痛、恐懼、對生死的感悟。
編織自由之境
《集聚-尋找目的地》將四百多個舊行李箱用紅線懸掛，與威尼斯雙年展的鑰匙有著異曲同工之妙。行李箱象徵著旅程，呈現出由下往上的階梯狀。既有對過往人生旅程的懷念，又暗示著人生不斷向上攀登的積極意義。其實當代藝術的確不是大多數人的日常，甚至是晦澀，瘋狂，不合群的代名詞，即使我們不曾有過創作一件藝術作品的經歷，卻都有過無法用言語表達情感的瞬間。將線彼此糾纏、交織、拆解，映照出內心世界的一角，彷彿在表現人與人之間不同的關係狀態，於塩田千春而言，絲線便是她所營造的藝術夢境。
If We Die, Where Do We Go?
If we die, that means we no longer belong to this world, but the intangible—our emotions and memories—lives on. Perhaps in the process of quantifying life and death, to fully understand the artworks of Chiharu Shiota is not the main concern of the regular audience. Because there is only a fine line between understanding and not understanding; it doesn’t necessarily affect one’s thinking or perception. The multitudes of hanging boats caught in the tangles of white yarn symbolize our tenacity to continue sailing despite our fear of the unknown future. A regular in her artworks, the uniquely strong visualization never fails to catch the viewer’s attention. Chiharu Shiota chooses to use red yarn to depict past memories and the gloomy, unsettling feelings that come with it. And when it comes to expressing fear, the yarns turn black, a transformative detail that conveys and reflects upon the viewer’s perception.
The Trembling Soul
To find the existence of the intangible is a major theme in Chiharu Shiota’s artworks. In her years of preparation, she was simultaneously fighting cancer and turning her experiences into works of art. A brave fighter, she did not let her fear towards death diminish her creativity. A boat with only its bare structure left that follows the red yarn to embark on an “Uncertain Journey”— that’s how the exhibition came into shape. The surmountable red yarn radiates with a dazzling shine, as if some sort of energy is surging out of the boat. If we are able to find empathy when appreciating art, perhaps it will be our shortcut to peek into this ultra complex world. Chiharu Shiota hopes that in this way, her audience will be able to understand the beauty of life’s journey, the subtlety of the human soul, and what it means to be alive. By bringing carriers of our memories—keys, letters, hospital beds, dresses, shoes, luggages—and linking them with yarns, she is weaving together a painting in the air that profoundly expresses how she perceives pain, fear, and death.
Weaving Together a Land of Freedom
In the installation “Accumulation—Searching for the Destination,” we see around 430 old oscillating suitcases strung up by red rope, a call back to Chiharu Shiota’s “Key in Hand” installation seen in the Venice Art Biennale. Symbolizing the very journeys of people’s lives, the suitcases are displayed in the formation of staircases—embodying the nostalgia towards life journeys and hinting at the spirit of always climbing upwards. It is true that modern art may not be everyone’s quotidian; it may even be equivalent to obscurity, insanity, and the inability to blend in. And yet, despite the fact that we may not have the experience of creating an artwork, it is undeniable that we’ve all had moments in which we failed to find the right words to express our feelings. Tangling, weaving, deconstructing, the yarns reflect a corner of our inner world that depicts the many faces of human relationships. To Chiharu Shiota, the yarns and ropes are her personal, artistic dream world, one in which she is willing to invite her audience to step into.