創作自述
我在疫情中創作
因應病毒持續變種宅在家，多少讓人體悟了，減少 ( 任何 ) 病毒擴散的最佳方式就是減少群聚。 只是，後疫情社會可真會變成少少人的活動現象 ? 疫居對我們的生活信念可有影響?
專家說 : 相較以往，歐美今年器官移植個案數減少了，只因為潛在的捐贈者，疫居期間食用了較多的垃圾食物， 導致器官捐贈的品質不佳 ; 而環保人士更憂心的是 : 大量外送和網購所產生的垃圾，要環保觀念如何扭轉劣勢？
短暫走出疫情威脅的國家，則驚訝的發現：早先各式各樣救濟金的後援策略，多少導致了零售商面臨應聘工人 不易的現象；千禧世代，重視在有限的生命裡發揮自我的最大價值，回絕過往朝九晚五的工作型態成為趨勢； 對比於救濟金的發放需求，豪宅、高檔電動車的市場卻異常熱絡。
宅在家，媒體成了訊息的主宰者，它讓我看到的不是全島一命或全球一體的大同曙光，而是⺠主和極權國家的 意識形態衝突，國與國之間的政治不信任 ; 它讓我看到戴口罩與施打疫苗的紛爭，成了政客的操弄武器 ; 它更 讓我感受到，即使有「黑人的命也是命」的先難，仍無法改變膚色較深的人對種族主義的害怕。
更讓人椎心的是，在全球性疫情封、解、鎖、開的循環中，網路成了有心者的操弄槍砲，它瞄準的不是當下 ( 可 見未來 ) 的敵人「病毒」，而是人與人之間的信賴感與良善的信念。 和眾人生命相關的訊息持續讓人困惑不已， 應該譴責那些使用它的壞人嗎 ? 難 ! 如果他們可以被看清楚，就無法贏得這個頭銜 ; 再說，網路工具的必要性， 不也是「 網路好人」最鄕愿的藉口 ? 正、反雙方偽裝的拉鋸與對話，不減虛擬空間裡詐欺、惑衆妖言，人性本 惡的故事一則接著一則 ; 大眾唯恐成受害者的憂懼，一層裹一層 ; 網路訊息從疫情到政治，永遠都是真假難辨。
呆滯的目光疲憊不堪了！心，想要鴕鳥的回到沒有網路之前的世代；文化、知識就算笨拙了一點；經濟差了一 些些，又有何妨？只要可以免去點政治競賽、鬥爭的神經兮兮！
在進步的現代勢力和反動勢力無止境的較量下，「救世主」在哪裡？「避風港」又在哪裡？
喔——我的 FB 貼文、我的創作——《招．術》！
2021 的新作《招．術》，不敢奢望⼤聲嚷嚷疫情期間所⾒、所思的片⾯，但盼藉由媒介的意念轉換，舒展 沉積的困頓、⾃建一點正能量。因此，《招．術》的台灣照像，有意讓商業活動中的⼈形和販賣情節缺席， 以平靜的傳播⽅式，邀約觀者更多想像和情感的參與。
《招．術》的影像，從沒有行銷包裝的「實物展售」開始，再進入公共場域中，沒有「實物展售」僅有各 行業招引人的看板訊息，以此展現——臺式招呼客人的直率。
《招．術》影像所並置的短文，則是有感於網路文化長期以來的亂象，在疫情大流行期間所帶出更多的焦 慮和悲情，於是，從影像拍攝記憶的斷裂點出發，注入新的文字發想；意圖藉由：生活中的真影像、偽遊記， 讓新、舊、真、假的語言、故事和情感，來對應當今網路訊息真假難分的困境。簡單的說：
溫馨的「臺式常民看板」——調侃網路上誇張不實的銷售誘惑；
直敍、類訊息的文字——省思過度包裝的網路行銷；
擬真的小說——影射網路訊息真假難分的現況。
《招．術》的影文並置結構中，有單張跨⾴的影像，也有上下或左右並置的「近似時空」影像，意圖藉類 似影像間的流動想像，突顯網路傳播過程中，觀者多不花心思、匆匆⼀瞥的⼼態，並進⼀步探討下列相關 的議題：
對象眷戀的情感
創作者要從本質性關懷的對象中轉移，不是那麼容易。《招 . 術》並置既連續、又間斷的影像，不全是拍 攝時拿捏不定、情緒徬徨的寫照，而是表徵 : 拍照過程，作者很容易因為高度的關注對象，產生情不自禁 的眷戀反應 ; 換句話說，創作情感方面，如同現實中熱戀的男女，見面之後捨不得分手、讀你千遍也不厭 倦，因此，在重複衝動的能量下，對同一個對象進行了連續的照像。
思，⼈在照像中的主體性
抽象表現畫家可以藉由顯著的筆觸，展現自身介入在繪製中的主體性，反觀攝影家頂多就只能用稍長時間 的曝光，刻意搖晃機身產生晃動的影像來展現自身介入的主體性。或許就是因為拍照身體的限制，讓不打 擾拍攝對象的「拍攝者透明化」理念，被廣泛的採納。但是，《招 . 術》對於人在照像中的主體性議題， 則嘗試以並置的「相類似影像」來表徵——人在拍攝現場，努力的想要在當下做出決定的糾結實情，甚至 於輕聲的提醒觀眾 :
「你看這裡，你再看一次這裡 !」——影像中，快門與快門之間相隔的長度
「看到了沒 ? 你到底看到了沒 ?」——影像中，現實時間的深度
既連續、又間斷，影像紀錄的破口
既連續、⼜間斷的影像思緒，來⾃於觀察近代數位影像軟體，如何將短暫幾秒鐘的連續動態影像，造成 靜、動合⼀，並提供攝影者從眾擇⼀的⽅便性。由此反思，拍照之後那些沒有被選上的影像最後命運如 何？被判永久刪除？不經意遺忘、流失後，在不同情境下，再被重新找出來成為作品？果真如此，所謂 的「影像紀錄」就沒有永遠死亡這件事！有感於此，《招．術》並置的影像，
提醒：創作活動中，作者無法避免的主觀選擇
凸顯：影像還原現場，在資訊上的斷層與落差
強調：人在認知的過程中，總是不連續，甚少全程參與的現實
體悟：靜態影像從未被完全固定下來的哲思
《招．術》在藝術書本的呈現形式上，並不閃躲裝訂線對於跨頁圖文的干擾，反而刻意讓它穿越每一件 跨頁的作品，強⾏將內文區隔成為左邊、右⾯或上端、下緣的獨立空間，使讀者得透過潛意識的認知與 個⼈先前的經驗，將已經被區隔的訊息加以併組。《招．術》希望藉由跨⾴⽂化和下凹、微暗的裝訂線 質感，能碰撞讀者對於書本閱讀的慣性，並對書本裝訂線所造成跨頁⽂字、圖像分分合合的現象，提出 另類的藝術思維。
大圖，跨頁，眼珠，悠閑，讀半邊，微弧，書丘，滑溜，下陷，光暗， 裝訂線，爬升，細讀，微弧，另半邊，影像，立體，文字，空間。
書，翻頁，前者的記憶仍在；合起來，過程的回憶，抹滅不掉
—— 游本寬 2021．仲夏
Preface
My Work During the Pandemic
As the virus continues to mutate and we stay at home, we’ve come to realize that the best way to reduce the spread of (any) virus is to limit gatherings. However, will post-pandemic life really become a phenomenon of fewer interactions? Will the lifestyle we have grown used to during the pandemic have an impact on our personal ideologies?
As this country begins to emerge from the pandemic, I was surprised to see that the economic relief measures (provided by the government) have resulted in hiring trouble for employers. Millennials attach great importance toward maximizing the best value in their limited lives. Rejecting the traditional 9-5 work cycle has become a trend. On one hand, the demand for relief payments/bailouts remains, on the other, the market for luxury homes and high-end electric vehicles continues to surge.
While staying at home, the media has become the master of information. What I have come to realize is that this is not the beginning of a unification, such as that of an entire island/community sharing the same fate, or the entire globe becoming one. Rather, it is the dawn of an ideological conflict between democratic and totalitarian regimes, and political distrust between nations. It has shown me that mask wearing and vaccines have become weapons wielded by politicians. The media also made me feel that despite the tragedies that ignited the suppressed pain of “Black Lives Matter,” it cannot change the fear some harbor toward those with darker skin.
What is more despairing is that in this seemingly never-ending pandemic cycle of opening and closing, the Internet has become a gun wielded by the ambitions/those with ulterior motives. The muzzle of this gun is not pointed at our current (and future) enemy, the virus, but at the bonds and trust between people. Information with high relevance to our lives continues to be difficult and confusing. Should “bad people '' who exploit this fact on the Internet be criticized/censored? It’s hard to say one way or the other. It’s not easy to see who these “bad people ' are when they are hidden and live among us. Besides, wouldn’t such criticism from the “good people” who advocate for a free and open internet be hypocritical? This seesawing dialogue between “good” and “bad” people, continued fraud/disinformation, deceptive rumor spreading… all symbolize the endless cycle of the evil we inflict upon each other. One after another, victims fall prey to the public’s fear-mongering, and it is hard to distinguish between truth and lies on the Internet, in all subject matters from the pandemic to politics.
My exhausted lifeless eyes cannot bear it! My heart wants me to bury my head in the sand and return to the pre-Internet era. Even if the culture and knowledge was a bit clumsy, the economy a bit worse, what’s the big deal-who cares? So long as you can avoid the political competition and neurotic fighting! In the endless contest between progressive and regressive forces, where is the “Savior?” Where is this “Safe Haven?”
Oh, and check out my Facebook post and artwork… “Welcome: The Art of Invitation”
Welcome: The Art of Invitation is my 2021 work that I can only humbly claim to be fragments I’ve observed during the pandemic. I am hoping to build up some positive energy by transforming thoughts and ease my unhappiness. In the images of Welcome: The Art of Invitation, real characters and economic activities are absent in order to stimulate greater imagination and emotional involvement from people through restrained communication.
Images in Welcome: The Art of Invitation represent public goods and services for sale devoid of sophisticated marketing strategies. Without particularly attractive designs, these messages posted by a variety of businesses demonstrate a straightforward attitude among Taiwanese greetings.
Stories accompanying each image in Welcome: The Art of Invitation are inspired by the long-term phenomena of chaos in digital media as well as the anxiety and sentiments people feel during the pandemic. At that point where the memory embodied in a photo breaks away, I add my own fictional narratives as an effort to respond to messages found online in which fiction and reality are indistinguishable. I mix real images and fake journals with old or new stories, and true or made-up words. In short, they are:
The homely Taiwanese style advertising signs very dear to the public are contrary to the untrue but very tempting online marketing strategies.
Plain and direct messages make us rethink the exaggerated character of online promotion.
Very authentic fiction refers to online messages that there is no way to confirm the authenticity of.
In Welcome: The Art of Invitation, images and texts are arranged side by side. Some single photos spread across two pages, some are two photos arranged up and down or left and right on one page. By making use of the flowing imagination from image to image, I mimic the fast online browsing in this era in which information is never really focused upon clearly. Further issues I explore are:
Sentimental attachment to the subject
Welcome: The Art of Invitation juxtaposes continuous and discontinuous images and symbols. During the time spent taking photos, I unwittingly developed sentimental attachments to the subjects I was shooting.
My subjectivity in photography
While abstract expressionist artists show subjectivity through an intense physicality of brush strokes in their paintings, photographers try to remain unseen, objective, and unobtrusive. Fundamental to the act of photographing is having a physical presence on scene where creation of the photograph occurs. In Welcome: The Art of Invitation, I juxtapose comparable images together on a two-page spread to call attention to my subjective thinking and to reveal the struggle in making decisions at the moment of photographing.
Continuity and discontinuity, the cracks of filming and recording
My thoughts about images that are both continuous and discontinuous came from my observation of digital image software recently developed. They produce static or dynamic images by taking continuous photos in a few seconds and conveniently provide photographers the ability to select those they want. So what happens to those photos not selected? Are they to be deleted for good? Or, after being forgotten for sometime, they might be rediscovered and presented one day under certain conditions? If it is true, nothing would really end in filming and recording. Thus, Welcome: The Art of Invitation addresses several points:
Reminding myself that I can’t avoid subjective decisions for my work. Outlining the discrepancy and gaps between the scenes and the information.
Emphasizing that one seldom is present all the time during the discontinuous formation of recognition.
Realizing that static images are never fixed.
The design of Welcome: The Art of Invitation, an art book publication, doesn’t dodge or avoid the limitations and interference from a book’s central binding, or gutter. Rather, this book embraces and features several two-page spreads and text is forcibly pushed into the margins on the left, right, top and bottom. Such a layout, flowing between two pages and divided by the center, suggests readers incorporate separate messages by subconscious recognition and prior personal experiences. The dark edges of images and text that intentionally disappear into the book’s gutter challenge one’s customary reading pattern and behavior. This design highlights an alternative and challenging approach to the book’s format through the use of two-page spreads, disconnected text, embrace of the central gutter, and edges of images that sink into darkness.
Large pictures, images across pages, eyeballs, relaxation, reading half side, slight curve, book ridge, sliding, sunken, dim, gutters, ascending, reading carefully, slight curves, another half, images, 3-dimensional, words, spaces.
Flipping through a book, memories remain.
Closing it, memories of making it are unerasable.
Ben Yu
August 2021
天天爆殺 
今日66折 
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