我們在幾次文書往來中,和開過幾次“淨土”視頻會議後,我發現這些參加“淨土”的年輕藝術家都是很有個性和善於思索的人。是非常有素質的新一代藝術人才,非常值得信賴和值得期待。這讓我不僅聯想到在今年東京奧運會為台灣爭奪榮譽的那些摧人淚下的年輕英雄們。只不過他們是在藝術行業,從事當代藝術中的先鋒藝術——行為藝術,是在另一個別開生面的文化領域中,在沒有掌聲,沒有酬賞的情況下,他們在為奮鬥目標而努力,但是他們同樣也會讓人們記得起台灣!我相信這些人的堅強意志和優秀品質是同出一爐的,他們都是Made in Taiwan! …… 或許人們仍然銘記,從台灣出來的“以一年為期”的行為藝術家,被認為是當今世界藝術史上最頂級的行為藝術家謝德慶連續四年在紐約創作了4件舉世無雙的大作,以人類的意志力伴随時間與空間渡過的行為過程。從而讓台灣聞名於世,讓舉世罕見只有台灣人才做得到的,令人類震驚的以人的意志力向生存極限的挑戰!
The idea of the Pure Land Art Festival came into being at the end of April 2021. At that time, as the epidemic was still burning everywhere in the world, Taiwan may be considered the only pure place because the government managed the crisis properly and its people unanimously responded to wearing masks and maintaining anti-epidemic measures such as physical distancing. These have achieved remarkable results and attracted the attention of the world. It can be said that it is the first region in the world to control the epidemic, and it also became the most desirable and enviable country in the world. People were the first to return to their normal life as in the past, and they can go out and enjoy the sun and nature. Everything is very beautiful. I came to Taiwan at exactly this time. I think that only here in the world can a live art festival be realized, and a long-lost performance art can take place on the spot. Undoubtedly, this is the spiritual food that is most needed for all human beings who have been locked down and immersed in sorrow for a long time. As a result, my old friend the poet Bei Ling and I curated the Pure Land Performance Art Festival in Taipei.
The Pure Land Performance Art Festival was originally scheduled to be held from May 21 to May 24. Unexpectedly, the second outbreak of the epidemic happened again!
By curating this performance art festival, I will not only communicate with long-missed performance artists and old friends, but also get to know many new and young Taiwanese performance artist friends. This is most exciting! In the performance art festival originally planned to be launched in May, artists participated in unpaid volunteer roles without any funding. Most of them were young artists. The feeling of rejuvenation regardless of gains and losses, with so many rushing to join, touched me so. It's just that with the unexpected circumstances, the second epidemic that suddenly hit, the epidemic warning was level three, and everything was suspended with our plan postponed and pushed further. Although we couldn't implement it as scheduled, we were still striving for it, taking advantage of the situation, using the Internet to communicate, and established a Pure Land performance art group. We set up a special work group with Acid House as the core, and used the free time to make concerted efforts to promote Taiwanese art. The agency declared funding support. Unexpectedly, our "Pure Land" art project received support from the National Arts Committee in 2021, which undoubtedly gave us great encouragement.
The Pure Land Art Festival has gone through many twists and turns, and will finally be realized by the end of 2021. It cannot be said enough that it is a lucky thing.
After several exchanges of paperwork and video conferences, I found that these young artists participating in the "Pure Land" are very personal and thoughtful people. They are a very qualified new generation of artistic talents, trustworthy and worth looking forward to. This reminds me of the tearful young heroes who competed for Taiwan's honor at the Tokyo Olympics this year. It’s just that they are in the art industry and they are engaged in avant-garde art in contemporary art-performance art. It is another unique cultural field. In the absence of applause and reward, they were working hard for their goals, but they will also remind people of Taiwan! I believe that the strong will and excellent qualities of these people are the same. They are all Made in Taiwan! Maybe people still remember that the "one-year" performance artist Tehching Hsieh, who comes from Taiwan is considered in the world today as top performance artist in art history, and has created four unparalleled masterpieces in New York for four consecutive years, using human willpower to accompany the process of performance through time and space. With this, Taiwan is famous in the world, and it is indeed rare that only Taiwanese can do it. It is shocking to challenge the limit of survival with human willpower!
The "Pure Land" Performance Art Festival finally got its wish after twists and turns, showing that Taiwanese are invincible in the face of a fierce epidemic! With rational and united efforts, Taiwan has controlled and defeated the epidemic time and time again. From September to October, the infection has returned to zero for several consecutive days. At the same time, Taiwan has also developed its own vaccine, and the vaccine has been administered rapidly. With this improvement, Taiwan has gradually recovered its good reputation in the international world with actual deeds, and Taiwanese once again vigorously defended this "pure land." Our performance artists are also accompanied by this overall situation to realize the 2021 "Pure Land" Taiwan Performance Art Festival, which has attracted the attention of contemporary art circles all over the world.
Let us return to the original intention of curation: keep still, pure land, and distance ourselves from evil. Self-improving, unfettered, resisting pollution, and defeating viruses. Constantly updating each other, and singing the song of life!
The sacred pure land--
Curator Cai Qing. Oct 3. 2021 at NTU Singapore
Special thanks to Ms. Kaye Oyek who proofread the English of this article
淨土國際影像藝術專場
2.
淨土國際影像藝術專場
在“淨土”現場藝術節,我們在台北新銳藝術空間酸屋安排了一場國際行為藝術家的錄像藝術作品專題展。藝術家們都來自亞洲的幾個不同國家,有時下深為關注的為民主和反軍管獨裁者以血抗爭的緬甸藝術家Aye Ko的作品。也有特別邀請來自重災情的印度藝術家Dimple B Shah, 她精心製作了她的行為藝術錄像作品。還有來自新加坡的藝術家Eve Tan專門為淨土創作的新作品,她選擇在新加坡一處曾經為保護植物豐富多樣性而引起激烈討論的林區拍攝他的作品《砧板》。與此同時,我們還呈現了來自世界各地不同地區的藝術家,參展的有德國藝術家、以色列藝術家和墨西哥藝術家等的影視作品。以點帶面,我們試圖將全球範圍內當下人類特殊境遇下的,展現出藝術家對於“自然”、“民主與自由”的向往和對於在精神上和自然中對“淨土”的聯想與反思。
In the "Pure Land" Live Art Festival, we arranged a special exhibition of video art works by international performance artists in the Acid House of Taipei art space. The artists come from several different countries in Asia, paying close attention to the works of Burmese artist Aye Ko who fought with blood for democracy and anti-army dictators. There is also a special invitation to Dimple B Shah, an Indian artist from the worst disaster situation, who has carefully produced her performance art video works. There is also a new work created by Singaporean artist Eve Tan specifically for Pure Land. She chose to shoot her work "Chopping Board" in a forest area in Singapore that has caused intense discussion to protect the rich diversity of plants. At the same time, we also presented artists from different regions around the world, and exhibited video works by German, Israeli, and Mexican artists. From a particular point of view, we try to show the artist's yearning for "nature", "democracy and freedom" and the association and reflection of "pure land" spiritually and in nature under the special circumstances of human beings on a global scale.
Although the new Coronavirus epidemic is still spreading around the world, it has blocked people’s normal exchanges and contact. It is precisely because of this that international artists cannot be invited to perform in person in this "Pure Land" event. However, we use the convenience of the Internet to maintain communication with the outside world. Through the use of the Internet and performance video, you can still communicate and share with artists from all over the world. This time, international artists joined our "Pure Land" activities with video works, and at the same time shared with us the spiritual realm of "Pure Land". Thanks to the participation of international artists, our art festival has a wider field of vision, just like icing on the cake, working together to create a wonderful scenery in the field of performance art. It is precisely because of this that the video unit of international artists exhibited in Acid House is even more precious!
——Cai Qing, Curator of "Pure Land" 2021.10
Special thanks to Ms. Kaye Oyek who proofread the English of this article
With the beginning of the "Pure Land" performance art festival, a special seminar held at the Environmental Research Institute of Taiwan Normal University, on the one hand, serves as a gathering place for all participating artists, and at the same time has a series of links around the theme of our project "Pure Land". We will have theoretical speeches and reports. First of all, we will invite Mr. Fang Weida, director of the Institute of Environmental Research Institute, to give a speech. This is very meaningful. Mr. Fang has made outstanding achievements in the field he has pursued for a long time-"environmental protection and research and development", which is directly related to the topics of our performance art festival. Then Cai Qing, the curator of the "Pure Land" Performance Art Festival, will introduce his experience of previous live art festivals held since 2014 and analyze the current global performance art situation. Next is Yeh Tzu-Chi, Taiwan's performance artist and performance art festival curator, to introduce her local organization of the Achuan Performance Art Group and several performance art activities with outstanding achievements. Ting Liping, an artist who has lived in France and Germany for a long time, starts his narrative from the philosophical and poetic aspects of performance art. The young performance artist, the coordinator of this live art festival, and Ph.D. student Chen Guanying will further rationalize the practice of Taiwanese performance art in the new era. Then, a young performance artist, Chen Xiaoqi, one of the hosts of Acid House, will tell us about the modes of operation of Acid House, and put forward relevant insights about non-profit and alternative spaces. Finally, the famous poet Bei Ling, one of the initiators of the Pure Land Art Festival, will talk about crossing literature and performance art. We also leave some time arrangements for other artists and participants to freely ask questions and make supplementary speeches. It can be seen that the rich content and broad vision of this theoretical conference are eye-catching! In addition, this straightforward art seminar is a clear guide and key to the understanding of performance artists' creation, especially for those who come to pay attention to this event. We started theoretical discussions and exchanges before the art festival, which undoubtedly enhanced this unique festival and enhanced a more theoretical link between the past and the future. As a result, performance artists will start their creations one by one, and continue to implement each performance artist's on-site works in the next few days, presenting the full picture of "Pure Land" Perfor art!
——Cai Qing, Curator of "Pure Land" 2021.10
Special thanks to Ms. Kaye Oyek who proofread the English of this article
Curatorial testimonials This is a real crossover, and it is also the first time that literary intervention and performance art "have a relationship." As the special curator of the 2003 Taipei International Book Fair and the curator of the 2015 Taipei International Writers Week, once made the impossible possible. All invited guests of honor were invited to enter the presidential palace and the mayor’s office during the event that year, so that the president and the mayor to listen us. In 2021, I won the honorary permanent residency in Taiwan the year of the plum blossom card. I was invited by my old friend performance artist Cai Qing to co-curate live art festival and use my rebirth and new home in the Wulai aboriginal area as the main venue to plan the history of Wulai. For the first performance art festival, I planned the main performance art scene and route evolution. Finally, at the end of the year, it will be displayed on the spot by Taiwanese performance artists, allowing Wulai to come to this piece of Taiwan's largest pure land and present them with abundant vitality.
Before we started ACID House, the art collective, we’ve organized "No license Action"way back in 2013. Since then, we’ve been basing ourselves in an old house in Yong-he, presenting performance art projects in the form of exhibitions/performances. In the years preceding our collective's official launch in 2018, up until now, we've also worked individually with many different curators, artists, and organizations to develop /curate various performance art works and forum. This year (2021), it is our first time to start an art project in the name and in the direction of a "performance arts festival.”
To the members of our collective, the curation and execution of this festival was an exceptionally important and grueling challenge. Aside from limitations imposed by the pandemic, as well as differences created by generation gaps and differing life experiences, misunderstandings and clashes would also often occur within participating groups. Yet against all odds, and under the cooperation of many parties, we continued to share and shoulder the responsibilities to its gradual completion. This, to me, manifests itself as something more than the artistic presentation itself.
Returning to the context of ACID House hosting a performance art festival in Taiwan, aside from thanking all participating Taiwanese and international artists, co-organizers, sponsors, academic advisors and two curators, we also deeply thank our teachers and seniors in Taiwan’s arts and humanities circle, who influenced our philosophy on performance art, and who cared for us and supported us. Such as: Molin WANG, Watan Wuma, Adaw Palaf Langasan, Vaga LIN, River LIN, Yi-Hua WU, Sih-Fong WU, Wieland WU, Jui-Chung YAO, Lee Chun YAO, Yung-Hsien CHEN, Ching-Yueh HSU, Chun-Chen HUANG, YuJun YE, Dino, Betty Apple, etc. Thank you for your kindness in taking care of the younger generation, and thank you for your research and praxis in the arts realm.
Finally, if "Jìngtǔ" ( 淨土 , meaning pure land) is used as a verb, it must be an unfinished battle since ancient times. I hope that this performance art festival can plant some flowers of truth in the name of that will.
Convenor of ACID House Team: Siao-Chi CHEN Nov. 2021
In April 2021, through the introduction of Tzu-Chi Yeh, she was invited by curator Cai Qing to join the "Pure Land - Performance Art Festival" as an artist. I met many old friends and new friends who have been working on performance art for a long time. Due to the epidemic, the event was delayed until December, but because of the longer preparation time, ACID House became the organizer of the festival and applied for government funding so that the festival could have more resources to prepare. As a result, I have changed from being a simple artist to a multi-faceted person, including being in team leaders of the ACID House, administration, visual design and promotion, funding and coordination, etc... and of course, I am still an artist who will be presenting at the festival. Although I have been busier, I have also learned more about the various aspects of the Pure Land ideology and political struggles from working with the curators, predecessors, and members of the ACID House.
I am still absorbing and digesting all of this with the attitude of an artist. Both positive and negative energies in the process have made me rethink the meaning of "Pure Land" and allow me to see "Pure Land" from a more diversified perspective while working in multiple roles. For me, "Pure Land" is no longer just about pure earth and nature, but a verb. Clean and dirty, pure and chaotic, are relative and comparative. We are all eager to pursue the pure side, but in this ever-changing and chaotic world situation, perhaps integrity is the best means to pursue the land of purification. Integrity is also one of the most important things in my personal view of creation. As we gather for art, we should show our attitude and insistence on honesty, should not abide in an object and give rise to thoughts, so that we can be free from all the chaos in our minds and bodies and join hands to reach the "Pure Land" in our hearts.
Team leaders of the ACID House:Min-Ju Lee Nov. 2021
「淨土 - 行為藝術節」在全球新冠狀病毒 (Covid-19) 的襲擊下,自今年五月籌備以來歷經數次協調與溝通,終能順利圓滿,在此特別感謝所有參與者及工作夥伴。關於展演主題,「淨土」可謂淨身的「淨化之地」,也是那昇華後的自省狀態,一方面回應在全球疫情的反撲下,人類如何與大自然的共生相處?以及如何重新思考「著陸」(down to earth) 的過去與未來? 另一方面通過行為藝術創作與論壇 的雙重實踐,試圖在後疫情的時空場域下,展開對於土地的環境關懷、文史反省與藝術創造。
若追溯「行為藝術節」的發展,首先必須提及德國藝術家 Boris Niesnoly,1985 年他與 N. Klassen、Z. Warpechowski、R. Marek、R. Ingold、R. Samens 等國際藝術家共同成立了「黑市國際」(Black Market International) 工作小組,每隔幾年遊牧於各地城市間,以個人和集體的現場行為 (live performance) 作為展演實踐方法,其影響國際行為藝術節的展演模式至今。另外,日本藝術家霜田誠二 (Seiji Shimoda) 於 1993 年創立的「日本國際行為藝術節」(NIPAF, Nippon International Performance Art Festival),並於 1996 年創立「日本亞洲行為藝術節」(NIPAF-Asia),幾乎每年持續透過國際性藝術家們以身體 (body-based) 和現場行為的方式來展現對生命與藝術的總體關懷,至今已分別舉辦 25 屆 NIPAF 和 20 屆 NIPAF-Asia,是日本和亞洲最為重要和活躍的國際行為藝術節之一。
The "Pure Land - Performance Art Festival" has been under the attack of the global new coronavirus (Covid-19) since May this year, and after several rounds of coordination and communication, it has finally been successfully completed.
The theme of the exhibition is "Pure Land", which is the "place of purification" of the body and the state of self-reflection after sublimation, responding to the global epidemic and how to live with nature. How to rethink the past and future of "down to earth"? On the other hand, through practice of performance art creation and forum, the festival attempts to develop environmental care, literary and historical reflection and artistic creation for the land in the post-epidemic space and time.
If we trace the development of the Performance Art Festival, we must first mention the German artist Boris Niesnoly, who established the Black Market International working group with international artists such as N. Klassen, Z. Warpechowski, R. Marek, R. Ingold, and R. Samens in 1985. The Black Market International working group, which travels from city to city every few years, uses individual and collective live performance as a method of exhibition practice, and has influenced the exhibition mode of international performance festivals to this day. In addition, Japanese artist Seiji Shimoda founded the NIPAF (Nippon International Performance Art Festival) in 1993 and the NIPAF-Asia (Japan Performance Art Festival) in 1996, and had been held 25 and 20 times, respectively. NIPAF-Asia is one of the most important and active international performance art festival in Japan and Asia, which have been held almost every year through the body-based and live performance of international artists.
In Taiwan, the Body Phase Studio was founded by artist Mo-lin Wang in 1991. And in the following year, he organized "Body and History: Performing Arts Festival", which was not titled as "performance art", but was actually an international exchange event of performance. In 2002, Seiji Shimoda organized the "Performance Art Workshop", which led to the Taipei International Performance Art Festival (TIPAF), organized by Mo-Lin Wang and Seiji in 2003. They have also influenced Tzu-chi Yeh of the ArTrend Performance Group and Wadan Wuma of the Hbun-Rangay Studio; they have held several performance art workshops and international performance art festivals since 2004. In addition, Langasan Theatre, led by Adaw Palaf Langasan, has been organizing the Langasan International Performance Art Festival since 2019. Since the 21st century, more and more artists and curators have been involved in the festival, which provides insight into the new vision of performance art festivals in contemporary art in Taiwan. Therefore, in this project, we attempt to start an artistic action of returning to the "pure land" in this river of art history. Through the method of guerrilla-style performativity and the moving site-specific production of the artists, to develop physical aesthetics of the land and the environment. Project Host:Kuan-Ying Chen Nov. 2021