Touch far away-on the way，on the way back

【Touch far away-on the way，on the way back】

By Anothai Oupkum and Shinya Akutagawa

Duration｜2017 / 9 / 15 - 2017 /10/ 22

Opening Reception｜2017 / 9 / 15 18:00

【Statement】

Anothai and Shinya are presenting their interactive installation at Absolute Space for the Arts coming September 16th.

During the research in Tainan, they sensed something was strange on the path. Being on their way back was somehow differnet from the way they passed despite they knew they were just on the same track back. When their foot caught on a bump on the Tainan path, they found the bump (different level in path) on the street Tainan is a representative of Tainan culture and history that made them got confused: its grass-rooted mixed culture and different timeline are on the one track in Tainan.

Since then Anothai and Shinya are gathering stories or experiences how a thing is changed between a way and the way back: from corridors in Tainan shophouse, a shrine, legend stories by indigneous people in Taiwan like Puyuma, Yami, Taiwanese story in 20th century, ancient China.

Zhuoliu吳濁流, who is an important novelist in Taiwan examining the Chineseness

in Taiwan, showed one mysterious story on the novel “Orphan of Asia”: a guy met a snake on the way. He then picked a stone for protecting himself, but the snake was disappeared. He thrown the stone away, it rolled down a ditch. On the way back, he found there was the stone in the middle of the path, which must have been at a ditch.

In the past, Atajal people in Taiwan decided to touch the Sun far away from their village. They passed the land of Taiwan and cut the sun in half. Along the way back, they ate the orange that they planted on the way.

Yami tribe, according to their legend story, they went to underground kingdom abundant in foods, Yami people came back to the earth with nothing though.