Ting-Jung Chen

Tigers Gathers

2014 - ongoing project
Participatory performance/ 2 channel Video Installation
Mixed Media (whitewood, acrylic glass, cardboard, sound chips, Arduino, speakers, papers, bicycle

Performing in german speaking regions:Germany: Rügen, Hamburg, Berlin, Halle, Munich, Meersburg, Freiburg, Konstanz, Vöhrenbach, Staufen. Switzerland: Zürich, Bern. Austria: Linz, Vienna.

Performer: Ting-Jung Chen, Hsiao-Ying Chen
Camera: Musquiqui Chihying, Leon Daniel, Jeppe Røhde, Michael Steinhauser
Sounds: Ruben Layer, Tom Kramer

If you were walking on the streets insome German speaking areas, you might encounter two Asian looking female vendors peddling with an eye-catching bicycle kiosk.The bicycle carried a huge and heavy wooden cupboard on its rack and the cupboard was filled with colorful and exotic-looking commodities. This is Ting ́s Bicycle Kiosk where you can buy Taiwanese soundscapes and personal memories as exotic souvenirs.

Bicycle Kiosk history in Taiwan

Ages ago, bicycle kiosks had been a spe-cial kind of vendor in Taiwan. They were well known for offering exotic souvenirs ( i.a. commodities from Europe, theU.S.A.) as well as for the street vendors’exotic travel stories, which were usually just made up fictions.

Soundscapes based on memories sold as souvenir products

I adapted this business model into my project plot to sell exotic stimuli. I de-veloped 17 sound-collages built-up from Taiwanese soundscapes. They are com-posed to different topics (i.a. summer, earthquake, capital at night and day),which connected with my personal memories and feelings towards my mothercountry Taiwan.

Each 10-second-long soundscape is recorded onto a low-tech sound chip and is attached to a Mandarin-written instruction sheet, which is actually a personal essay that I wrote to each topic. They were packed in different colorful wrapping boxes. The design of the boxesis based on nostalgic Taiwanese consumer products. Rather than being original designs, they are Shan-Zhai designs, in a mix with other accessible internet material and my own aesthetic taste/fantasies. And so are the „Taiwanese soundscapes“ which I arranged of selected found-footage sound les from theinternet.

exotic artifacts—-> the transmission 

Through the action of consumption, the transmission of soundscapes and memo-ries is happening. A new understanding is being produced by the sounds mobility. By reflecting phenomena of globalization, the work tries to talk about the „exotic“.

narration/ fiction/interpretation/history

I am selling the representatives of exotic stimulations,  and I am also selling my distorted biological stories. By performing as a Bicycle Kiosk vendor, I tell the customers my own stories, but with exaggerations. The customers also share their own imaginations, inspired by the soundscapes, and tell me about impressive soundscapes from their local area. Through the elaborated inter-subjective encounter between me and the audience (as well as between two cultures), arelation and intimacy between peopleand their identities are building up in a„commodified“ consumer structure.

群虎

2014-持續進行式
參與性行為演出/ 雙軌影像裝置
複合媒材: 腳踏車、木材、金屬、素描紙、瓦愣紙、UV印刷、壓克力、音源模組、揚聲器、Arduino互動介面

本計劃曾在 以下城市演出:

德國呂根島、漢堡、柏林、哈樂、慕尼黑、梅爾斯堡、佛萊堡、康斯坦茲、弗赫倫巴赫、施陶芬；瑞士蘇黎世、伯恩；奧地利林茲、維也納

表演者: 陳庭榕，陳曉瑩
影像攝影: Musquiqui Chihying, Leon Daniel, Jeppe Røhde, Michael Steinhauser
影像收音: Ruben Layer, Tom Kramer

“一臺充滿異國情調的腳踏車雜貨店，機動性的在大街小巷穿梭。我向前探問，原來她們叫賣兜售著各式各樣的 『聲音』；據說是店主對故鄉的記憶情感。打開鮮豔新奇的包裝，有精美的使用說明，以及10秒鐘我從來沒經歷過的異域音景。太美了。我馬上選購了五種不同的情境。這會是今年最好的聖誕節禮物！”—H.穆勒

„群虎“ 的起始是一件參與性行為計劃，藉由物件直接在街頭與大眾接觸。
在這個計劃中，我以似是而非的歷史社會連結，錯接對比我自身真實的故鄉情感記憶。由後殖民脈絡中，從販賣異國情調對異文化演示者及身份、歷史虛實、物對想像與記憶的乘載做探討。

我寫了十七段對於故鄉的記憶文字，借網路資源的finding footage，將網路上所得之音源拼貼剪輯為配合我記憶情境的台灣假山假水假音景。我將這十七段對故鄉的記憶與相對的拼接音景，裝入自己重設計與印刷的台灣味的山寨產品包裝內。並將這些色彩鮮豔的產品裝入我在異地德國複製打造，標示新復古的台灣古早異國味的腳踏車雜貨店內。
我推著這台仿復古情懷的腳踏車在德語區的街頭旅行做行為表演，以攤販的身份，將自己對於故鄉的情懷記憶作為商品，對大眾兜售。我向大眾叫賣我的商品，給顧客聆聽拼接音景，詢問他們的感受，並述說著我的記憶。顧客必須起價（以及討價還價），來購買這些新奇的異國紀念品。

只是這件商品的保存或修復都是困難的。
這段音景/記憶被裝載在便宜的聲音組件上，便宜的喇叭傳出低傳真的聲音。越常聆聽這段聲音，等於加速電池與組件線材的消耗，等同於加速這段音景/我的記憶的消失。
如同在日復一日的沿街叫賣旅途中，經過一再重複的敘述回憶對家的記憶；那些記憶與我越來越疏離。
記憶與想像融為ㄧ。提示記憶與想像的僅剩裝載他們的包裝。

而當街頭行為被放入藝術機構空間中，叫賣行為與記憶分享對話，被壓縮為平面的影像與再詮釋的對象，探討在戀物社會下物的政治借代。