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英梅好奇澳門Yingmei Curious Macau

中國澳門 Macau, China, 2019

牛房倉庫駐場藝術家計劃 Ox Warehouse Artist in Residence Programme

策展人 Curators：吳方洲 Noah Ng、林小雯 Sio Man Lam

藝術家 Artist：段英梅 Yingmei Duan

合作者 Collaborators：譚智泉 Chi Chun Tam、林治錝 Edmundo Remédios Lameiras、川井深一 Hsing Chun Lin、陳明⾦ Meng Kam Chan、吳方洲 Noah Ng、林小雯 Sio Man Lam 

展覽日期 Exhibition Period：2019. 11. 1 - 2019. 12. 22

展覽地點 Exhibition Venue：澳門後牛房實驗場 Post-Ox Warehouse Experiment Site, Macau China

主辦 Organizer：牛房倉庫 Ox Warehouse

展覽介紹 Exhibition Introduction

段英梅的行為藝術創作由好奇而生——對人的好奇，對各種社會觀念、人類習性的好奇。在每一次由好奇而生的創作和交流中，英梅總是那個提出問題的人。

上世紀90年代以身體為媒介的行為藝術探索被寫進了中國前衛藝術史，段英梅1995年赤身裸體地創作的集體行為作品《為無名山增高一米》成為中國前衛藝術的經典之作。二十多年過去，身體的禁錮早被解放，藝術的定義亦被肢解，身體的行為藝術逐漸喪失效力。作為一名行為藝術家，段英梅以各種實驗挖掘行為藝術的可能性——從早期創作「個人行為作品」和「裝置行為藝術」，到近十多年發展起「平等合作」、「日常行為藝術」，「物件 & 影像互動行為作品」，在這些實踐當中，英梅堅持以簡單的物件、行為和語言，建立一種能夠在生活中實踐的行為藝術。

2005年後，段英梅經常採取平等合作的創作方式，這次在澳門牛房倉庫的駐留創作亦然。她給這種創作的定義是：「在平等的基礎上與他人進行合作，每個合作者都是平等獨立的創作主體。」十多年間，段英梅完成了近百件合作作品；她不僅與不同的藝術家進行平等合作，亦將這種創作關係延伸向社會大眾這個群體之中——她會與不同的人展開對話，再共同發展出物件及影像作品。在這類作品中，英梅試圖在合作者、觀眾、物件與空間之間建立複雜的關係網，並帶來互動。英梅選擇了以對話和互動的方式來進行創作，只因她感受到現代社會中，人們正逐漸失去真正意義上的對話能力。二十一歲前的英梅曾因先天唇腭裂而形成語言障礙，她對這種缺失無疑深有體會。

對英梅來說，澳門正是一個可以對話的地方。她對澳門充滿好奇，是因為它地方很小，小得恰好可以讓一種微妙的關係藴釀和發醇。2013年，她第一次來到澳門，參加澳門國際行為藝術節，她記得澳門老舊的房子、街邊擺賣的蘿蔔糕、小巧的藝術空間，還有以藝術招徠遊客的賭場。這次在澳門牛房倉庫駐留期間，英梅邀請了不同職業、年齡與身份的澳門人交流和對話：青年藝術工作者、土生葡人、經營兒童書店的母親、退休的蜑家漁民⋯⋯一如她之前的合作作品，合作者被放置到藝術家的位置上，令人摸不清誰是藝術家，誰是普羅大眾？但這正是英梅進行這種創作的原因所在：創作的主體與受眾的關係變得鬆動起來，如同這次展覽標題的語法形式所製造的可變語義。觀眾亦可以提出這樣的疑問，英梅好奇澳門，那澳門好奇英梅嗎？

Yingmei Duan is a curious observer - an observer of all facets of life, who questions and reflects upon established social norms and human behavior. Each of Yingmei’s performance is enhanced by her unique way of asking questions. 

By the 90s, performance art was integrated into the Chinese avant-garde scene. In 1995, Yingmei participated in the collaborative performance “To Add One Meter to an Anonymous Mountain”, which is considered one of the most emblematic works in Chinese avant-garde art history. Over twenty years have passed since. The definition of art has been deconstructed and traditional notions of the body have broken free and performance art has now lost its aura. However, Yingmei has never ceased to explore the infinite possibilities of performance art. She continues to develop her artistic methods - from the earlier works of "Solo Performance" and "Performance Installation", to "Equal Collaborative Performance" and "Daily Live Art Performance" in the past decade, and most recently "Object & Video Interactive Performance”. Using ordinary objects, simple actions and language, Yingmei has established her distinctive way to communicate with the world.

Since 2005, Yingmei has favored the method called “Equal Collaborative Performance”, which is also the methodology she decided to use during her residency at Ox Warehouse. To introduce this method, Yingmei explained that: “I collaborate with others on the basis of impartiality and people work with me become involved on equal terms.”

In the past decade, she has realised about a hundred collaborations with this methodology. She not only collaborates with artists but also with the general public. Her practice begins with an invitation to a conversation that would later evolve into “Object & Video Interactive Performance”. In these projects, Yingmei intends to construct an interactive network between participants, audiences, objects and surroundings in our daily life. She has chosen this particular form of interactive art to engage her audiences, for her deep concern towards individuals in contemporary society who have lost the ability to communicate with each other; this is a major concern of Yingmei who had suffered a pronunciation impediment from a cleft lip until she was 21.

For Yingmei, Macau would be the perfect place to start a conversation. She is curious about Macau as it is so small - just right for an intimate conversation. In 2013, Yingmei first visited Macau to participate in the Macau International Performance Art Festival; in her memories, the imagery of Macau conjures up old buildings, turnip cakes on street stalls, small art spaces, and casinos that use art activities to draw more visitors.

During her residency at Ox Warehouse, Yingmei had the opportunity to talk to people from all parts of our society: a young creative, a Macanese, a mother who runs a children's bookstore, a retired Tanka fisherman… In these collaborations, the role of the artist and the audience is obscured and diffused, just as the playful grammar of the exhibition title opens up the interpretation of the theme. One may wonder: Yingmei is curious about Macau, how about Macau, is it curious about Yingmei?

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