The Coral Island

珊瑚洲

fishing net, ocean debris (hauling lines), coral stones, metal equipment, ready-mades, laser level, framed printed documents, LED light

site-specific, dimensions variable

2021

 


Among those islands in the South China Sea, Pratas Island (Dongsha Island) was once called “The Coral Island” , and has been mentioned in topographical studies and documents of various periods due to the enormous-scaled coral reefs and maritime activities since ancient times. However, because of its location as the important hub of shipping networks and fishing ground, the definition and name of this tiny island have shifted yet changed several times, from “Shixing Shitang (Starry Waters of Coral)”, “The Crescent Island”, “Nishizawa Island”to current “Pratas (Dongsha) Island”. The islands and reefs globally well-known for their natural prosperity and pivotal location have been under the rule of Imperial China and Nam Việt (Nanyue) Kingdom, and even controlled and developed by Japanese merchant and claimed by the United Kingdom. The split atoll has never been able to define a complete circle, as if its suspended affiliation drifting between waves and currents.

 

Until today, the South China Sea is still the red sea known for diplomatic conflicts entangled with the rising nationalism in SE Asia and conspiracy for natural resources. As the remote and alienated escrow area of Kaohsiung Municipality of Taiwan today, military deployment, natural environments and historical relics all prove the reality that ideologies and interests of human beings have always been intertwined ambiguously among these open yet ever-changing boundaries.

 

With corals – the stones collected from those demolished, ancient coastal buildings in Taiwan, a sea chart - received by chance - from the Chinese freighter accidentally stranded around the seashore of Kaohsiung, as well as ready-mades such as ocean debris and ropes on board, the artist utilizes “mechanics“ as the reference of his artistic concept and site-specific practice. He deconstructs and reassembles the labor scenes with historical documents, and through suspension, towing, entanglement, traction, as well as other load-bearing and technical operations, to prop up a floating and materialized seabed landform of this so-called ”Coral Island”, inviting the audience to experience the interactive stalemate between gravity and physical strength in forms of weight training, to recognize the symbols of corals constantly stacked onto the boundary of life and death, sea and land, and to feel how our consciousness and behavior moor this island at the blurry edge of continental shed base on human’s territorial interpretation of history.

 

 

南海諸島之中的東沙群島古稱『珊瑚洲』,自古以來便因珊瑚群礁與海事活動而散見於各時期之地誌與文獻,然而也因位處海域樞紐,其定義與名號數度更迭與模糊,從『石星石塘』、『月牙島』、『西澤島』到『東沙島』與『Pratas Island』,此以生態資源與區位聞名全球的島礁,經歷中國、南越、甚至日商的插旗佔領與英國的聲索,缺口的環礁始終未能定義一個完滿的隸屬,而懸置於海潮遠袤之際。

 

直至今日,南海依舊是東南亞民族主義與天然資源駁火的外交紅海,作為今日台灣直轄市高雄遙遠而疏離的代管區界,軍事部署、自然生態、文史陳跡,都在在印證了在這片開放而流動漂移的疆域之上、人的理念與利益始終曖昧牽扯的現實。

 

以珊瑚——從濱海古厝拆除而得的硓𥑮石,因緣際會取得、擱淺高雄外海的中國貨輪海圖,以及海廢繩索等現成物素材,藝術家企圖以「力學」貫串作品的概念指涉與現地實踐,解構與拼接海事現場的勞動場景與文史檔案;並透過懸吊、牽引、糾纏、曳引等負重與技術操演,撐開一面浮空的、物質化的「珊瑚洲」海床地貌,並邀請觀者如健體鍛鍊一般地在地心引力與肉身膂力的互動僵持間、感受珊瑚礁岩在海陸生死交界上被不斷疊壘的符號、以及人的意識與行為何以錨定這座島礁在大陸史觀邊棚上懸而未定的濱線。