不安之安 A Peace Unsettled 2013

2013年6月我应凯撒世嘉文化公司之邀，到马尔代夫旅行并进行创作，事先并没有确定要做什么，所以我在那儿只是等着一些场景被我遇到。一边拍摄，一边思考着为何某些事物会引起我的注意，也正是不断地对某些事物的关注和投心身于此，我们塑造着自己，不同的思考也影响着个人显现不同的事物，我们才成为了各个特殊的个体。 有一天早晨我从度假屋出来，看见沙滩上有两席餐桌，每个都配有两个椅子，白色的桌布，白色的椅套，过了不久，就有一对像是日本人样子的情侣入座，我突然意识到这就是酒店特制的沙滩日出情侣早餐。另一席很久都没有人来。我过去问那儿服务生借一个椅子，想放到更接近正在涨潮的海水的沙滩上去，他问了我的名字，然后告诉我这桌正是为我准备的。 我顺利地借走了其中一只椅子，当我拍完这张椅子回来时，看到那席已经准备好两个人的食物和酒水餐桌，却只有一只椅子。海风不断鼓起白色的椅套如白裙 。 这样，我眼前出现这样的画面：一桌正在等待的早餐，但不知道是谁在等待——一张无人的空椅，和本该在对面却缺失的椅子——等待者和被等待者，都缺席着。 如果这部录像暗示了一种等待，那这个角色最有可能的是，观众。 然而，那张椅子在这里的缺失，却使我们疑惑等待本身是否存在。 如果这部录像暗示了一种等待，那么，对观众来说，一场等待，恰好是被等待的事件。 现在还不是作者谈论这件作品的时候，作品的意义，需要等待。它是生长的，意义的生长在于它永远处在未完成。 我更愿意去引用曾经有人说过的文字，这样，我可以说这不是我说的，而且，前人的文字“虽世殊事异，所以兴怀，其致一也”，“后之视今，也由今之视昔”（王羲之《兰亭序》）。虽然我们是特殊的个体但还是能感觉到到共鸣的慰藉。我找到了葡萄牙作家F.佩索阿的未完成之作《不安之书》（又名《惶然录》）中的几句，作为并非只是针对这件作品的感触： ——我想我看到了那幻影，她的， 那影子现在还没有消逝……没有消逝… ——我想留住那些时刻，然而我想占有的，只是占有的感觉。 ——我不在以为在的地方，如果我寻找自己，我不知道谁在寻找我。 蒋志 2014-4-10

If this video film portends an interval of waiting, then the person who plays the waiting role would be: viewer. Yet the absence of a chair here makes one wonder if waiting exists or not. If this video film portends an interval of waiting, then for a viewer, the act of waiting is precisely an event to be waited for. Now is not the time for the video-maker to discuss this piece. The meaning of a piece requires waiting. It is something that grows. Meaning’s growth lies in its forever being unfinished.

I would prefer to quote from written words set down by others. In this way I can say that these words were said by others. What is more, the words of our predecessors, “though they belong to a separate generation with its own events, yet insofar as they can engage one’s inmost feelings, they are alike in relevance.” “When the future looks at today, it will be like us looking back at the past.” (Wang Xizhi, “Preface to Orchid Pavilion Collection”) Although we are unique individuals, yet still we can find comfort in what strikes a common chord from heart to heart. I found an unfinished work by the Portuguese writer F. Pessoa titled Book of Disquiet. The book contains these lines that sum up my feelings, and not just toward this book: “I thought I had seen that apparition, hers…that shadowy form has not yet disappeared…it has not disappeared… I want to hold that moment, but what I truly want to possess, is the feeling of possessing… I’m not in the place where I thought I would be, if I look for myself, I don’t who is looking for me.”

Jiangzhi 2014-4-10