《招．術》 Welcome: The Art of Invitation

<玉田理髮>

「鼎鼎有名，享譽全台的玉田弄獅訓練班？」我知道！聽校長說名額已滿，樹幹上的公告海報，上個月就已經撕掉了。「想要找優質便宜的民宿過夜？」向後走。「玉田農業專修分班？」過馬路。順著馬路向前開可以到羅東夜市；遠一點的蘇澳有冷泉；油箱裝滿，只要蘇花改不塞車，兩小時應該也可以到花蓮。「 沒有一件聽起來有意思？」 噢！去對面理髮。

Yutien Barbershop
“The well-known and very reputable Yutien Lion Dance Training?” I know! But I heard from the school principal that its workshop was full. The poster, attached to the tree trunk that called for trainees, had been torn away last month.
“High quality but affordable B&B?” Turn around.
“Yutien Agricultural Classroom?” Go across the road.
Driving along you will arrive at the Luodong Night Market. Drive further is Suao where there are cold springs. Fill your fuel tanks, it takes two hours to Hualien if you are not caught by traffic on the Suhua Highway.
“Nothing sounds interesting?” Alright then, go to the barbershop opposite the road.



<拿名片換紗窗>

生鏽欄杆玻璃窗後面：「喂！要找我爸爸修理紗窗嗎？他外出工作了」「今天晚上？很抱歉，已經排滿了，明天才有空喔！」「 ……阿姨很急？讓我來看看……明天早上 11:40 如何？ 」「……好， 11:35 到妳們家門口」「 請給我地址，講慢一點，我只有國小四年級，寫字不夠快」「 ……阿姨現在想提前到 11 點嗎？」 「 爸爸有交代，改時間加收 28 塊， 如果是提早再加 93 塊」 「 ……好，算便宜一點，少8塊，材料及施工費當場算，不可以討價還價，師傅說的算」 「 ……阿姨對不起，我剛才沒有注意妳是住在五樓，因為爸爸年紀大了，帶工具、材料爬樓梯比較辛苦，所以每一個樓層還要再加 38 塊」 「 ……好，不可以再討價還價了喔！」「……嗯嗯，聽到了！ 阿姨是說隔壁家的大媳婦也要換紗門嗎？」「 可以，明天兩家一起做。大姐姐家裡有傳真機嗎？我把型錄先傳過去，傳真不收費。」「阿姨對不起，因為換紗門、紗窗的時間已經超過中午，要多付師傅便當錢，這部分隨意」 「 ……噢！要再想一想嗎？」「 阿姨我要提醒妳，下一通電話就要付改時間的費用喔！ 謝謝來電，有空到菜市場的店裡坐坐」

「 妹仔！幫爸爸拿衛生紙來，剛才整卷掉進馬桶裡了。」


Take A Business Card For Window Screen Replacement

A voice came from behind the rusted frame and glass window, “Hey, looking for my dad to fix a screen window? He is out for work.”
“Tonight? Sorry, his schedule is full tonight and won’t be available until tomorrow.”
“... Aunty, you are in a hurry? Let’s see… 11:40 tomorrow morning, is it OK?”
“... OK, 11:35 in front of your door.”
“Please give me your address. Slower, please, I am only a fourth grader, I can’t write fast enough.”
“... Aunty, you want it to be earlier, at 11:00?”
“My dad told me to charge 28 for changing the time, and if the appointment is moved earlier, we charge another 93 bucks.”
“... OK, giving you a discount of 8 bucks. Materials and labor will have to be calculated by the master repairman on-site, there is no bargain on master repairman’s numbers.”
“... Aunty, sorry, I did not notice you live on the fifth floor. Dad is no longer young, and it is hard for him to carry the tools and materials upstairs, so we charge 38 bucks for each floor.”
“... All right, no more discount, OK?”
“... Hm, hm, I heard you. Aunty, you said your oldest daughter-in-law next door also needs to replace a window screen?”
“Yes, both cases can be handled tomorrow. Does this sister, your daughter-in-law, have a fax machine? I can fax our catalog to her first. No charge for faxing.”

“Sorry, aunty, because the replacement of the door screen and window screen will take the master repairman’s time over lunch, please pay for his lunchbox. You can decide how much.”
“... Oh, you need to think about it a little bit longer?”
“Aunty, allow me to remind you, you will have to pay the charge for changing the time in the next phone call. Thank you for calling, and you are welcome to visit us in the market.”

“My baby girl, bring your dad some toilet paper. I dropped the whole roll in the toilet.”




<環山巷內衣>

我們霧峰，因水氣充足、常有霧氣而得名，是前臺灣省議會的設置地，這一點常識你是應該知道的！在我們正前方，那根傳統洗石子柱上的內衣招牌，雖然有些破舊，但可是大有來頭。當年老師傅跟著軍隊，從上海來到這裡，就專門替達官貴人的太太、女兒、小三縫製內衣。柱子，可是一個將軍派他的工兵班長來做的，並且還親自題了字。老師傅退休後，倒是有聽說，嫁到美國的女兒帶著唯一小孩回到霧峰，在家裡代理美國名牌的內衣，那個叫做什麼「為多利的秘密」來的。 反正，一家人很少出門。……
聽到到這裡，自己仔細看一下，見證霧峰發展的招牌柱，不知道何時被一座鐵灰色的電氣箱給擋在前面，附近人家油漆時，還不小心滴了一塊白漆在上面，旁邊那張褪色的貼紙，是保證書的號碼？夾在石柱和電器箱間的灰水管更又是做什麼的？
巷子裡傳來女人的聲音：「處喻，功課寫完了沒？騎車幫媽媽去送貨喔！」

Huanshan Alley Undergarment

Our place Wufeng(Fog Peak) was given the name because of its humidity and fogginess. It was the former location of the Taiwan Provincial Council. I suppose you all know about it, it’s common knowledge. Before our eyes, on the stone-washed concrete column is the sign of an undergarment store. It looks old, but the store marks a significant history. The tailor came to Taiwan from Shanghai with the military, and his clients were the wives, daughters and mistresses of those high-ranking officials and dignitaries from China. This concrete column was manufactured for his business by an engineering troop officer sent by a general. The general also inscribed some words on it for the tailor. We were told that after the tailor retired, his daughter who got married in the US had brought her only child back to Wufeng. Based on her family business she became the representative of a high-end brand of American underwear, called… called Victorian Secrets? Anyway, the family is hardly seen because they seldom go out. . .
The story ends here. Taking a closer look at this column that witnessed the growth of Wufeng, there is an iron gray power distribution box blocking it. And a drop of white dot on it probably was from the work of painting nearby. Is the sticker on the upper right corner the warrant certificate with serial numbers? And what is the purpose of the gray pipe between the concrete column and the distribution box?
A woman’s voice is heard from the alley, “Zhu-Yu, have you done your homework? Deliver these goods for Mom with the scooter, will you?”



<黑色土雞右轉>

上個禮拜外出洽公，無意中看到松林苑美式原木別墅的廣告，下午一家人興奮的來探查一下。找了好久，終於在前方斜坡，小碎石、大石塊錯落堆疊的迴轉島上，看到松林苑的地標了。但是，坡斜路窄、彎度大，我的直覺：車身鐵定容易擦傷。於是，把車停在新做好的水溝蓋上，環視一下周遭：工程行的廣告牌長滿了青苔。生意差，附近生活的機能不好嗎？所以有很多房子都想脫售？太太問，耕讀園有替孩子上輔導課嗎？高三的大兒子問：建商是不是把賣不出去的房子都改成雞舍， 現在主要是賣土雞了嗎？走吧，松林苑的美式別墅，應該不是太太和孩子在西部片中所看到的那樣——用一根根圓形木頭蓋成的原木屋。


A Free-Range Chicken Turns Right

Last week I went on a business trip and accidentally saw an advertisement that an American-style log villa called Pine Garden was for sale. This morning my family came with me to explore it. We were excited, but it took us a lot of effort to find the place. In the roundabout on a hill ahead, a pile of large and small rocks was the landmark for Pine Garden. But the road along the hill was narrow and the turn was sharp. I figured that if I drove through the tight lane, my car would be scratched so I parked the car over the drain grates, which looked new, and took a look at the surroundings. The construction company’s sign was covered with a creeping coat of moss, suggesting its business wasn’t so hot. This neighborhood wasn’t able to support its own economy or provide a living to locals, was it? Did that have anything to do with why so many houses were for sale? My wife pointed to a sign of after-school events, wondering if they actually provided children with educational programs at all. Our oldest son, a senior high school student, asked, “Did the developers remodel all of the unsold houses into chicken coops, and start selling free-range chickens?” Forget about this place. The so-called American-style log villas couldn’t be anything like the nostalgic log cabins of western film fame that were actually constructed of lumber.



<前人種樹後人砍樹>

斜照的陽光，將右手邊的老舊房子，投射出一道厚厚的影子，空氣中沒有一絲絲麻雀的聲音，午休的工班也還沒有醒來。正前方，原本塗有反光安全漆的電線桿，幾乎被規律的蔓藤圖案給全遮蓋了。望著反光鏡中的建築工地，不禁自言自語：這年頭，做阿公的種樹、澆水；孩子爬樹、摘水果；孫子砍樹、蓋新厝。眼前的景觀真的是老人家周瑜打黃蓋，無怨無悔嗎？（問問鋸樹的工人，他們最知道了！）。


They Planted, We Chop

Slanting sunlight cast a long shadow on the dilapidated house on its right side. The air is quiet, not even a sparrow’s chirp is heard, and workers are still in the middle of their afternoon naps. In front of me an electric pole covered by reflective paint is evenly traversed by a vine. Seeing the construction site in the mirror, I can’t help but grumble: the trees planted and watered by grandpa,climbed by children picking fruit, had all been chopped down by grandchildren for new buildings. Do they regret their decisions? (Ask the tree choppers, they will know.)


<台北．假恆春>

台北師大後面，巷弄裡，樹幹林立（ 稱不上森林 ）的最前方，還沒有長出角的小鹿盯著（ 或數著 ）路人。鹿的左邊（ 觀眾的右邊 ），從中景到遠山，紅櫻，高高低低的錯落在一排長青樹之前。溪水，由小到大、由遠到近、急急的流過幾顆石頭，但，路人聽不見水聲。巷子裡，野麻雀，沒有節奏的吱吱叫。恍惚間，恆春半山腰的那片綠草坪，浮現在眼前；春耕、夏耘、秋收、冬藏，一年四季永不變色（ 也不褪色 ）——台北．假恆春。
機車騎士，把車先行停好，走了過來：「 歐吉桑，請問一下，順天堂藥局在幾樓？樓梯在哪裡？」


In Taipei, A Fake Forever Spring

In the alley behind the campus of a university, at the front of a bunch of trees(not as dense as a forest), a fawn before developing antlers is staring at or counting the numbers of bypassers. On the left side of the fawn(the right side of the audience), from the middle scene to the remote mountains are cherry trees with pink blossoms standing high and low in front of a row of evergreen trees. The creek widens and extends from the background to the foreground, flowing fast passing over the rocks. Unfortunately, the sound of splashing water is not heard. Instead, sparrows chirp wildly in the alley. In a trance, the emerald grassland on the hillside in Hengchun(literally “forever spring”) emerges before my eyes. But here is a scene that never changes and never fades, no matter if it's sprouting time in the spring, or the time for ploughing in summer, or for harvest in autumn, or for storage in winter. It is a fake Hengchung in Taipei.
A man parked his scooter and walked over, “Excuse me, sir, which floor is the Sun Ten Pharmacy? And where is the staircase to it?”



<新娘甘蔗敬天宮>

阿中奉兒女之命，農曆過年前三天，有本事、沒本事，辦個喜事好交代。日子不挑，八字不合，婚前健康檢查？沒聽過！迎娶當天，天空作美，放炮舅仔車、新娘車、伴郎尾車，浩浩蕩蕩氣派十足。車隊先停甘蔗園外，拜把兄弟下車檢查：車頭彩、米篩、捧花，就差一根甘蔗。「 老闆娘，車頂用，連根帶葉、透腳青竹一枝」「 來了！來了！翁姑夫婦，子孫有福。甘蔗，我店後園子現拔的，連根有土、帶尾，有頭有尾、生生不息。」「老闆娘！另外再替我準備兩根甘蔗，初九拜天公，回程的時候再來拿。 對了！今天的新娘屬虎喔！」「 沒關係，生豬肉就免了。」


Bride Sugarcane, Worship of Heaven
Because his girlfriend was pregnant, Ah-Chung planned his wedding three days before the lunar new year, to meet his responsibility no matter if he was ready or not. The date was not an auspicious day, and the astrological signs of the groom and bride did not match. Did they have a pre-marriage physical examination? Never heard of such a thing. Nonetheless, the weather was perfect on their wedding day; the procession consisted of the car of the groom’s uncles and cousins who were in charge of firecrackers, the car for the bride, and the cars for the best men. The fleet of cars rode magnificently. They parked outside of the sugarcane field first; the groomsmen went out to check the car decorations, the rice strainer, and the bride’s bouquet, among other things. A sugarcane was the only thing missing.
“Madam, we need one whole sugarcane plant to be carried on the car roof. It must be with roots and leaves, a very healthy plant.”
“Here! Here you go! From parents-in-law to the newlyweds, and the offspring as well, all are blessed. The sugarcanes were just harvested from the field behind this store. They remained so fresh that their roots were still filled with dirt, and their heads were still intact. With heads and tails, they symbolized endless lives.”
“Madam, please prepare another two for our worship of heaven on the ninth day of the lunar new year. We will pick them up on our way back. Oh, the zodiac sign of the bride is a tiger, for your information.”

“It’s alright, just skip the raw pork.”


* In a traditional wedding, the groom and his family tie red envelopes and pork with red string at the root of a bamboo or sugarcane plant to distract the evil spirit called White Tiger. In the case that the bride’s zodiac sign is a tiger, there is no need to use pork.

「鼎鼎有名，享譽全台的玉田弄獅訓練班？」我知道！聽校長說名額已滿，樹幹上的公告海報，上個月就已經撕掉了。「想要找優質便宜的民宿過夜？」向後走。「玉田農業專修分班？」過馬路。順著馬路向前開可以到羅東夜市；遠一點的蘇澳有冷泉；油箱裝滿，只要蘇花改不塞車，兩小時應該也可以到花蓮。「 沒有一件聽起來有意思？」 噢！去對面理髮。

Yutien Barbershop
“The well-known and very reputable Yutien Lion Dance Training?” I know! But I heard from the school principal that its workshop was full. The poster, ...

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

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；...

作品資料——p.5
我在疫情中創作——p.9
對象眷戀的情感
思，人在照像中的主體性
既連續、又間斷，影像紀錄的破口
Preface: My Work During the Pandemic——p.17
Sentimental attachment to the subject
Subjectivity in photography
Continuity and discontinuity, the cracks of filming and recording
影文並置作品 (Stories)——p.20
作品資訊
封面：「實物展售」系列之一 新竹縣關西鎮 /2015
p2. 「實物展售」系列之二 台南縣六甲區 /2011
p4. 「實物展售」系列之三 新北市八里區 /2018
p8. 「實物展售」系列之四 台中市豐原區 /2010
p10.「實物展售」系列之五 新竹縣關西鎮 /2015
p12.「實物展售」系列之六 新北市三峽區 /2019
p14.「實物展售」系列之七 宜蘭縣宜蘭市 /2017
p16. 「實物展售」系列之八 台中市霧峰區 /2006
p20.「找不到、吃不著」(Finding Nothing, Eating Nothing) 屏東縣長治鄉 /2020
p22.「新娘甘蔗敬天宮」(Bride Sugarcane, Worship of Heaven) 新竹縣關西鎮 /2020
p24.「拿名片換紗窗」(Take A Business Card For Window Screen Replacement) 台北市北投區 /2012
p26.「雜貨店內販售檳榔」(Betel Nuts Sold In The General Store) 新北市中和區 /2013
p28.「美髮左轉到底」(Hair Salon, Turn Left and Walk to the End) 彰化縣溪湖鎮 /2013
p30.「內巷算命」(Deep Alley Fortune Teller) 台中市大甲區 /2010
p32.「媒人張公」(Matchmaker Chang Sir) 彰化縣花壇鄉 /2020
p34.「吃飯配茶」(Food with Tea Pairing) 南投縣草屯鎮 /2010
p36.「玉田理髮」(Yutien Barbershop) 宜蘭縣礁溪鄉 /2012
p38.「前人種樹後人砍樹」(They Planted, We Chop) 彰化縣溪湖鎮 /2020
p40.「賣菜格」(Market Vending) 新北市板橋區 /2017
p42.「建坪 158」(Construction Area 158) 苗栗縣苑裡鎮 /2020
p44. 「實物展售」系列之九 台東縣台東市 /2017
p50.「南天」(Southern Sky) 台中市豐原區 /2020
p52.「鹿和訓犬有賣車」(Dog Training and Car Dealerships) 彰化縣鹿港鎮 /2020
p54.「環山巷內衣」(Huanshan Alley Undergarment) 台中市霧峰區 / 2020
p56.「有雞相思樹」(Urn-Roasted Chicken Cooked by Formosa Acacia Wood) 南投縣南投市 /2015
p58.「台北．假恆春」(In Taipei, A Fake Forever Spring) 台北市大安區 /2019
p60.「彩劵行做股票」(Lottery Stall's Stock Market Investment) 雲林縣虎尾鎮 /2015
p62.「黑色土雞右轉」(A Free-Range Chicken Turns Righ) 新竹縣關西鎮 /2012
p64. 「柔美全身美容」(Tender Beauty Service for the Entire Body) 桃園市橫山鄉 /2010
p66.「雙號壽衣」(Shrouds in Even Numbers) 台南市中西區 /2013
p68.「店， 右轉」(Store, Turn Right) 基隆市外木山 /2017
p70.「995 菜園」(995 Orchard) 苗栗縣造橋鄉 /2017
p72. 「實物展售」系列之十 新北市老梅 /2017
p78.「雙圓水塔」(Roof Water Tank for Public Restrooms) 新竹縣寶山鄉 /2010
p80.「紫百合理髮」(Violet Lily Barber) 新北市石碇 /2018
p82.「養鴨梁人家」(Duck Farmer Mr. Liang) 桃園市楊梅區 /2013
p84.「客家大湯圓」(Hakka Big Tangyuan) 新竹縣寶山鄉 /2010
p86.「棺木墊」(Coffin Store) 基隆市南榮區 /2010
p88.「不啼叫公雞」(Roosters Don't Crow) 彰化縣花壇鄉 /2020
p90.「金紙包檳榔」(Betel Nuts Wrapped By Paper Money) 台中市大甲區 /2010
p92.「 完美女人」(Perfect Woman) 新北市鶯歌鎮 /2013
p94.「紅運不驚」(Red Luck Undisturbed) 台中市大甲區 /2010
p96.「神明自動變速」(God's Automatic Transmission) 苗栗縣頭份市 /2006
p98.「綠妹妹白米卦」(Green Girls Rice Divination) 屏東市歸仁 /2020
p100.「鑿井不專業」(Unprofessional Well Drilling) 台中市大里區 /2017
p102. 「實物展售」系列之十一 新北市三峽鎮 /2014
p108.「老漢挖井」(Old Man Drilling Wells) 彰化縣溪湖鎮 /2020
p110.「黃綠套房要出租」(A Suite of Yellow and Green is for Rent) 南投縣竹山鎮 /2010
p112.「環山舊車報廢」(Scrapped Cars In Sqoyaw) 台中市和平區 /2016
p114.「豐原深坑豆腐」(Shenkeng Stinky Tofu) 台中市豐原區 /2010
p116.「總舖怕呷午」(Master Chefs Hate Luncheons) 苗栗縣苑裡鎮 /2010
p118.「掛還趣」(Rings of Racing Pigeons) 台南市安平區 /2014
p120.「看到服務就到」(Our Service Starts When You See This) 台南市中西區 /2014
p122.「仙 ( 角 ) 俗復健」(Old Fairy Folk Rehab) 台南市將軍區 /2016
p124. 「實物展售」系列之十二 苗栗縣南庄鄉 /2006
p130.「紅牡丹檳榔」(Red Peony Betel Nuts) 台南市六甲區 /2011
p132.「24 小時，有照包上路」(24-Hour Driving Instruction, Guaranteeing You Hit the Roa) 台南市中西區 /2011
p134.「鎮瀾宮直走」(Jenn Lann Temple Straight Ahead) 台中市大甲區 /2010
p136.「我俩不合 123」(We Don't Suit Each Other 123) 彰化縣彰化市 /2019
p138.「桔紅色的雞絲麵」(Vermicelli of Orange Color) 台北市大同區 /2013
p140.「這裡痛、那裡也痛」(Pain Here, Pain There, Pain Everywhere) 新竹縣北埔鄉 /2010
p142.「點菜三角窗」(Corner Window for Ordering Food) 台北市中山區 /2015
p144.「鐵皮收驚」(Iron Sheet Exorcism) 台中市大甲區 /2010
p148. 「實物展售」系列之十三 新北市林口區 /2018
p150. 「實物展售」系列之十四 台中市豐原區 /2015
個人中英文簡介 (About Ben Yu)——p.149

作品資料——p.5
我在疫情中創作——p.9
對象眷戀的情感
思，人在照像中的主體性
既連續、又間斷，影像紀錄的破口
Preface: My Work During the Pandemic——p.17
Sentimental attachment to the subject
Subjectivity in photography
Continuity and discontinuity, the cracks of filming and recording
影文並置作品 (Stories)——p.20
作品資訊
封面：「實物展售」系列之一 新竹縣關西鎮 /2015
p2. 「實物展售」系列之二 台南縣六甲區 /2011
p4. 「實物展售」系列之三 新北市八里區 /2018
p8....