Rooms of Rhizome — On the Destruction, Smell and Memory in Sung-Chih Chen’s Artworks
根莖之室— 初探陳松志作品中的毀壞、氣味與記憶
文╱高子衿 Tzu-Chin Kao
When talking about Sung-Chih Chen’s works, a dilemma usually presents itself. If one tries to capture or describe with words the artistic method and content that he expresses through the inexpensive, coarse media, one might fail to arrest the simple essence of his works. On the other hand, if one says the meaning of and the discussion about the works have been subjectively determined by the artist at first, one could not help but noticing the absence of meaning in the works at the same time. The artificial traces eliminate the iridescence of craftsmanship and retain a kind of simple statement of functionality. Poetic fragments of the daily life are delineated in the interweaving process of the “destruction” and “construction” by the artist.
Time-embedded memory of destruction
“Time” was the answer to the puzzle, but it was transformed into the puzzle itself by this powerful force here and represented as the wrinkles. The process of solving the puzzle became simultaneously the construction of the puzzle itself. At the meantime, the “destruction” served as a piece of clue that enabled the revelation of the artistic method of the artist when he constructed the deconstructed. A wooden landscape, titled “Delicate Sensibilities” (2012), was collaged by wooden pieces that varied in color and shape came from the debris of an old, torn-down building. The fibrous tissues were already very flimsy due to the long-term use, so the surface could be peeled off easily by hands. The removal of the surface allowed us to see the previously hidden interior covered up by the membrane of time; and therefore, the inside and the outside were reversed.
We had a glimpse of the existence of time that covered everything like a membrane; and we also had a chance to see the ruinous state of materials that usually would take a long time to reveal itself, whether it was in the process of speeding up the collapsing of material surface, or in the new wall composed of old materials from different time and space manually. With an inclination towards the destructed and degraded, in the common and ordinary daily life, Sung-Chih always looks for the “surviving” beauty that deviates from the norm of beauty and exists in our daily experiences.
Olfactory memory of affections
In the fields of art, the olfactory sense is rather downplayed comparing to the attention the visual or tactile sense has received. Nevertheless, in Sung-Chih’s series of works, there are a few works that are worth our attention because the element of the olfactory sense in the works is the key to unique memories; or the olfactory sense is precisely the essence of the work. One of these impressive examples was “Luxurious Degradation” (2003) on which some topics Sung-Chih has consistently focused and they were visible in this work as well. As one stepped into this space that was the work itself, there was virtually nothing inside. It was kept in its most minimalistic way as a(n) (empty) room. The chewing gum could no longer remain its original form. They were deformed, pale, tramped on until it was stiff. During the visitor’s appreciation of and intrusion into the space, the gum was changed into something beyond recognition. On the one hand, even though the work had returned to the material base of the media, the artist still continued to lessen or eliminate it in his pursuit of “maximizing the minimum.” On the other hand, the materials appeared in Sung-Chih’s works could always emit dazzling, forceful power with their insignificant existence. Just like the smell in “Luxurious Degradation,” it was so subtle that it was impossible to capture or pinpoint its existence, but somehow the smell filled every corner of the space. It penetrated everything and elicited the connection between memory and emotion.
Another example would be “Untitled—Room 1” (2008). In a respectable, almost sacred, space such as a museum, the private, disruptive appearance of the smell (urine), whether it was due to the lost of the control over one’s body, or the sense of disorder caused by the filth that was common in the dark corners of an urban space, all made us realize the breaking of a certain system and rules. It also reminded the visitors of the anxiety this realization induced as well as the normative power behind this anxiety, which was projected on individual by the social norm.
The more unique thing is that by adding the element of the olfactory sense in his works, Sung-Chih transforms his works into a kind of subversion of and contemplation on the other works that usually center on visual experience. However, if one only relies on the sight, the distance between the seeing subject and the seen object would remain fixed as the distance between the two, creating a sense of depth in-between. However, the olfactory sense erases the sense of distance or space, encompassing the subject. The smell and the olfactory organ of the body interact with and stimulate each other, evoking memories from the unconscious. The smell lingers in the space as well as in memory.
Reversion of the body-work relation
Sung-Chih’s works always carry the elements of looking minimalistic and employing the fundamental essence of the material. Nonetheless, these elements are usually presented in a unique, unexpected way. In other words, the minimalistic look is simply one of the combined, integrating methods in creating his works. Therefore, there are the traces of time in his works that do not exist in minimalism. Each glance, or even each breath, exists in the deepest memory in the mind, and each of them is conjured up through the senses of the body that participates in viewing of the works when Sung-Chih transforms the habitual way of viewing artworks.
談論陳松志的作品往往會陷入於一種面臨雙重性的拉扯當中，例如若以詞藻去試圖捕捉、描述那些處理廉價、粗鄙媒材的藝術手法與內容，便可能會失卻與作品相符的樸實之感；又或是作品的意義實已經由創作者主觀的圈圍、決定留下可供明確討論的輪廓範圍，但卻又同時與一種意義的缺席僵局相為並陳。那些經由人為行動後的殘跡，排拒了手工技藝的喧賓奪主，僅具有功能性的簡單直述可能，並在藝術家「毀壞」與「建構」的對比交織當中，形構出在日常經驗中顯易忽略的詩意片段。
具有時間的毀壞記憶
應台新銀行文化藝術基金會邀請而製作的「親愛的瑞音蔻」（2010）一展，不但開啟了不同於以往的創作取徑，也是陳松志一貫對於時間／痕跡的作品系列中，較為清晰地揭露那一層物質性的表面膜之作。人們對於光滑平坦表面的追求，是出自於無法留駐青春年華的抗衡，如同藝術家所說：「皺褶是歲月顯現於我們身體最深切的記憶」，隨著年齡漸長，皮膚喪失彈性及緊實度，進而變得粗糙且凹凸不平，皺紋便是這些身體狀況轉變的忠實紀錄，而「瑞音蔻」取自摺痕紋理（wrinkle）的擬人化音譯，軟性 pvc 塑料的使用，讓台座上古典的雕塑作品與包覆台座的外模得以連成一氣，原先各具意義與功能之兩者在此弭除了界線，彷彿抽取、剝除自台座外模的皺褶擠壓，以及放大雕塑中具裝飾性的紋理，進而使之成為作品主體，皆為帶有典範性的西方雕塑價值，注入詼諧與顛覆的挑弄。
做為謎底的「時間」卻被強大的張力凹摺壓進謎題本身，因而解謎本身同時也是建構謎題本身，當中，「毀壞」成為線索，而藝術家的敏銳與美感，便在這些建構破壞的藝術手法上顯現。例如在《矯揉造作》（2003）作品當中，陳松志以洗衣粉摻混水泥之物來塗刷房間四周壁面，與水遇合後產生不同速度的凝結與溶解之反應，致使這個不牢靠的混合材質在幾天後，便如壁癌一般，逐漸斑駁脫落，並散落於地面舖設的紅色地毯之上；又或是使用1,000多片木碎片，在7公尺長、3.5公尺寬的牆面上所拼組出木片風景的《微弱的美感》（2012），這些顏色深淺與形狀不一的木碎片來自拆除舊建築後的廢棄物質，且因長期使用以致纖維早已脆化，以徒手之力便能輕易撕下表皮，並於表層被撕開之餘，讓我們得以目睹原先隱現在那時間模層表面之下的物體，在此，內外因而進行了一個翻轉的動作。
或是加速時間導致外表物質崩落的過程，或是將來自不同時空所所拆卸下來的牆面，以勞力體現的方式，重新組合在一片新構牆面當中，皆讓我們得以窺見那一幕幕關於時間模層的存在，以及原先須耗費曠時才得以見到自然法則消耗後的殘狀。對於毀壞、變質的偏愛，陳松志總是在平淡無奇的日常生活中，尋求那些背離審美慣性、散落在我們日常經驗裡的「殘存」美感。
具有氣味的情感記憶
屬於人類五大感官之一的嗅覺，卻也是最為奇特的一種，負責嗅聞的鼻子雖然隨時處於一種對外開放的狀態，但由於談論氣味時難以達到可被度量化的描述和客觀分享，因此充滿模糊性、個人性的色彩，然而，如同荷蘭著名心理學家瓦潤（Piet Vroon）曾提到嗅覺對於情緒記憶的影響，「嗅覺可充當起動機，讓人記起遺忘的經驗和過去的事」，也就是這些時常無法被指稱出名稱的氣味，卻可能因為與記憶、想像力的特殊連結，故而觸發不同的回憶和各種情緒的聯想。在藝術領域中，嗅覺也一直未若視覺、觸覺或是聽覺那樣受到重視，但陳松志歷來的創作裡，卻曾經出現過幾件值得一提的作品，無論是加入嗅覺因素所引發的特殊記憶，或是嗅覺即為作品內容主體等，皆令人印象深刻，例如《奢侈的墮落》（2003）是參與當年「高雄國際貨櫃藝術節」的作品，以貨櫃所圍塑出來的長方形房間中，室內地上平鋪了紫色的地毯，並隨意散置口香糖，邀請參觀者穿著有庶民風味的藍白拖鞋，任意踩踏而過，黏滯在腳底的已不成形團塊，除了讓人有想要剔除的慾望之外，更引人留意的，是那些口香糖散發出來充斥在空間中的香甜味道，鮮明而極易辨識，那曾是幾個世代的青春共同記憶，在沒有像現在那麼多舶來品可供選擇時，這個國產品牌便因為便宜實惠，咬下時濃膩香料幾乎讓人嚥出滿腔汁液的柔軟夾層，成為包括藝術家自身在內的童年共同回憶。
從這件作品也可觀察到至今仍為陳松志創作關懷的幾個核心，一如進入這個所謂作品的空間中，視覺上幾乎空無一物，貧瘠的只剩下維持一個（空）房間所必須擁有的最低限度，而少數可見的口香糖物質卻早已不再保有原有面貌，它變形、失去色彩，被人踐踏到甚至失去黏性，在參觀者的觀賞和介入過程中，成為相反、面目全非的物質。一方面，已經極簡回返至媒材的物質屬性，但藝術家卻仍嫌不夠似的持續以消減、清除之邏輯，致力於追求能夠「增添到少」的極限；另一方面，在陳松志作品中所出現的物質，每每都能以微弱軀體釋放出強大眩目的力量，就像是在《奢侈的墮落》的嗅覺一般，它微小到甚無法捉摸、指稱它的所在，但在空間中卻無一能遺漏掉它的氣味，其強烈的穿透性，以及對於記憶與情感的連結啟動，就像是作家朱天心曾在〈匈牙利之水〉小說故事中所描述的「我」與「朋友A」角色，兩個男人因為香茅油的味道而將收納在某個許久未開的「抽屜」內、佈滿蛛網的記憶重新打開，故而鮮明的畫面波濤洶湧的傾浪而出，爭先紛呈地跳動著，彷彿從來未曾忘卻。
另一件作品則是《無題—房間1》（2008），參觀時，我們先被四大片幾乎頂到天花板的玻璃隔絕在外，只能從層層相疊的白色油漆空隙中，窺見內部擺放在地上的棉被、油漆罐、梯子、收音機等物件，還有瀰漫在空間中忽隱忽現的尿液氣味。在被認為具有殿堂神聖感的美術館中，聞到這樣私密而無序的息，無論是對於身體控制所出現的反常，或是在都市空間的治安死角時常可觸及的經驗，由於污穢所形成的失序感，都讓我們從中意識到這種對於破壞規則、系統而感到焦慮的反應，其背後所存在社會約束個人行為的規範力量。而這些都是我們在真實時空中所可能經歷的，以及與記憶交雜的投射再現，例如藝術家便是在2007年於巴黎駐村時，在地鐵車站聞到尿臊味，混雜著異地生活、創作的生活經歷，因而給予他作品的靈感來源。
其次，作品中的棉被實為藝術家幼時曾經確實使用過之物，因而彷彿重塑了一個幼時床邊的景象，與物件得以保留至今的可能依戀感受；以及，佈展期間所遺留下來的油漆桶等物件，也被當做作品的內容之一，則為作品增添了現實風味。藝術家在作品當中埋入許多輕微甚至是不可眼見而確信的線索，而其形式感則與個人的種種日常性體驗相為聯繫，這些不經意的殘片，像是個引子，引領出一段段切身卻又幽微的作品身世。
特別是，陳松志藉由嗅覺元素的加入，使作品往往暗藏了對於以視覺經驗為基礎的一個推翻與省思。在一般的傳播機制當中，隱含著大量「看」的範式，今日借助更高倍能的器材，延伸了人的視覺能力，可以將遠在天邊的景象拉近至眼前，看到難以想像之外的物象，然而，若以視覺觀察周圍事物，觀看主體與被觀看之物體之間，必然因為兩者之間的距離，故而製造出一種深度感，但嗅覺卻是沒有距離感或空間感的，深陷其中，氣味與身體的嗅覺器官相互刺激並引起無意識的記憶。氣味在空間中徘徊不去，也在記憶裡流連忘返。
身體─作品關係的重新置換
陳松志的作品有著低限主義的外觀與面向材質本身的還原性質地，然而，卻是以取徑變形的方式顯現在作品當中，亦即是，低限的面貌僅為其創作實踐中，諸多複合、融混手法的其一選項，故而得以具備原低限主義當中，並不存有的時間性軌跡。此外，在那些時常「空無一物」的房間中，被藝術家指名為作品的是關於毀棄、破壞與時間流逝的蒐集，就像在詩人夏宇的〈與動物密談（二）〉詩作中，唯一證明時間存在的，是不斷消耗的肥皂、每天滌洗從未洗淨過的臉，以及黏膩挨在浴室同一木條上的一家九口毛巾，逐漸在不經意之間的腐爛變黑。每一次的觀看、甚至是每一次的呼吸，個人存在於內心最深層的過往記憶，都在陳松志對於習以為常之觀看關係的竄改之下，以身體性參與的感知模式所召喚而出。